


The Royal Vow

by Rabbitafy



Category: Adventure Time
Genre: Abuse, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Romance, Violence, dark themes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-05
Updated: 2013-02-05
Packaged: 2017-11-28 07:03:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 25,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/671620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rabbitafy/pseuds/Rabbitafy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Ice Queen returns after a five year absence, she brings along with her something that Prince Gumball had thought he'd never have to face again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1 and Junk

**Author's Note:**

> This story will eventually get dark, so please don't read if you want something fluffy!

-Chapter 1 and junk-

Eighteen year old Fionna was an adventuress. She enjoyed spending her time fighting creatures, saving villages, and occasionally lounging around with her best friend, Cake. Her entire life was spent this way and she couldn’t be happier, since she was doing what she loved.

Fionna lived in the land of Ooo. Over the years she had made (and lost) many friends and few enemies. But by far her favorite people (aside from Cake) were her best friend, Prince Gumball, and her boyfriend, Flame Prince.

“Yo, PG,” She greeted as she entered the former’s laboratory, while he pieced together some concoction. “What’cha makin’?”

“I’m attempting to put together a mighty potion to enhance a resistance to liquefying-” Prince Gumball, also known as PG, began to explain. However, after glancing at her confused face, he cleared his throat and began to make sense. “I’m trying to find out a way to make sugar more resistant to water.”

“Fall in the lake again?” The girl grinned, taking a seat on her normal stool.

“Actually, no,” He replied with a smile as he placed the beaker he was holding over a controlled flame. “Cinnamon Bun poured cocoa all over me and I nearly washed my hair away trying to get it out.”

A laugh left the blonde haired girl’s lips as she leaned back against the wall. “That sucks, dude! Good thing you didn’t. I can’t imagine you bald!”

Chuckling as she laughed, Gumball leaned in close and watched the liquid boil for a moment. “I actually called you here because I have a task for you.”

“Yeah!?” She chirped, grinning and sitting back up. “Sweet! What do I have to do?”

“Well,” The Prince hummed as he removed the potion-in-progress from the heat. “It’s been going around that someone saw the Ice Queen in her palace.”

Fionna stared at him in surprise.

Now, you might not think it weird that a queen would be in her own palace, but there was a story behind it. The Ice Queen was a crazy woman who was known for kidnapping Princes in an attempt to get one to marry her. She had a habit of trying this at least once a week… or at least, she did about five years ago.

You see, one mysterious day when Fionna was almost 14, the Ice Queen had up and disappeared. Her entire palace had been emptied of her possessions. Even her penguins were gone.

Although they’d all been baffled by it, Prince Gumball had suggested that she had finally given up on trying to kidnap a Prince and moved away from the land of Ooo. Fionna wasn’t so sure, but there wasn’t much she could do about it at the time.

“Don’t worry, BG!” The blonde-haired girl declared as she jumped to her feet, throwing a fist into the air into a mock-punch. “Cake and I are on it! ...As soon as I get her away from Mo-Cro.”

Mo-Cro, or Lord Monochromicorn, was Cake’s long-term boyfriend. They’d been going out since Fionna was young and Cake tried to spend as much time with him as she could.

The girl quickly bid farewell to the science-absorbed prince and left the castle to gather her best friend. Once Cake was (reluctantly) pulled away from her boyfriend, the two of them set off on the long trek toward the Ice Kingdom.

“But why would Ice Queen come back after all these years, I wonder?” Cake pondered as she walked, her rubber-like body stretched out to the size of a building as she walked across the plain.

“Maybe wherever she went kicked her out,” Fionna snickered, before she snapped. “Ah, man! I should have brought Flame Prince along, he could threaten to melt her if she gets out of hand!”

“Knowing him, he’d cry as soon as one of her icicles touched him,” Cake chuckled, earning a loud ‘ _Hey!_ ’ from the human girl, only causing her to laugh louder. “Oh come on, Fi. You know he’s a big baby about some things.”

“Yeah, well… whatever,” The girl huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. “You know,” She sighed after a bit, leaning back to look up at the sky. “It’s going to suck if Ice Queen really is back. PG was really able to focus more on having fun after she stopped kidnapping him all the time.”

“Yeah, he was,” Cake agreed thoughtfully. “He actually had some time off from being a Prince. It’s too bad he didn’t really get to spend it doing much.”

A frown crossed Fionna’s face, but she didn’t respond.

“We’re here,” The stretchy cat informed as she placed her best friend on the ground, before shrinking back down to her normal size. “It still looks deserted to me.”

“Nah, I think the candy kingdom is more _dessert-ed_ ,” Fionna joked with a huge grin, earning a stare from the cat. “Get it? _Dessert_ -ed?”

“I get it, Fi,” Cake groaned as she turned and started up the long winding path toward the palace.

“Really?” The blonde whined, following after her friend. “I thought that one was good…”

The two of them made the walk up the mountain in good time and slowly approached the front opening, in case Ice Queen really was around. She was a ruthless lady and wouldn’t hesitate to freeze them on sight if she saw them snooping around.

Neither of them were really surprised, however, when they saw no Ice Queen inside of the palace.

“Guess it was just a rumor,” Fionna shrugged, turning to leave.

“Wait!” Cake cried, catching the blonde off guard. The cat crouched down and motioned for her human friend to follow suit, still looking inside.

“What?” The teenager questioned, looking around. She didn’t see the woman anywhere, so what was the problem?

“What do you see, Fi?” Cake inquired, motioning inside.

“Nothing, dude,” Fionna sighed. “Just Ice Quean’s stuff and junk- _wait!_ ” Cake gave an approving noise as the girl threw a hand over her mouth. “Her _stuff_ is here!”

“Which must mean that _she’s_ here!” Cake declared, turning to peer inside carefully.

They stared for a long time, but did not see the woman appear from any of the other rooms. Eventually they agreed and slowly ventured inside, glancing around carefully.

After checking the kitchen and the open bathroom door, it was obvious she wasn’t there. But then Cake remembered something and perked her ears up.

“The mirror,” She breathed, nodding toward a large mirror along the wall. “Remember? There’s a secret room behind it.”

“Oh yeah!” Fionna breathed, inching over toward it. She slipped her fingers between it and the wall of ice (nearly hissing at how cold it felt on her bare skin) and pulled it open a crack.

“See anything?” Her best friend inquired as the blonde-haired girl peeked inside.

“I don’t see Ice Queen,” The human replied, squinting through the darkness. “But… holy glob!” Cake nearly jumped out of her skin as the blonde gasped. “What is that!?”

“What!?” The cat cried in alarm. “What is what!?”

Turning toward her best friend, Fionna looked at her with wide eyes. “There’s a _person_ in there!” Cake’s own eyes went large and the blonde clenched her fists in front of her chest, her look turning to one of anger. “She probably brought some prince back with her or something!”

“Fi, wait-!” Cake cried as the girl turned to rush in. “We can’t just grab him! What if Ice Queen put up traps?”

“Glob it!” The blonde hissed, turning to open the door a tiny bit more so that Cake could see. “We gotta think of a way to get him out of there.”

Peering in, Cake took in the scene. Since she was a cat, she could see much better in the dark then Fionna could.

Just as the girl had said, there was a person inside of the room. He was seated in a chair made of ice, his body hunched somewhat forward and his unkempt dark hair covering most of his face. On top of his head was a golden crown with three red gems and his thin body was dressed in a gown that looked like something Prince Gumball would wear, but in blue.

The weirdest thing was that he wasn’t chained down or looking for a way out… he was just… _sitting_ there.

Fionna let out a noise of surprise and grabbed Cake, ducking behind a piece of furniture. The cat watched as with seconds to spare, the Ice Queen came storming in, a smile on her face and a plate of what looked like ice-cake in her hands.

“Oh sweetheart~!” She sing-songed, toeing open the mirror-door and slipping inside. “I brought you supper!”

As soon as the door was closing, the two adventuresses slipped over and stopped it with a crack open, peeping through curiously.

“You need to eat there, dearest,” Ice Queen said to the boy as she reached out with her free hand, hooking one finger under his chin to lift it up. “Open wide!”

Cake and Fionna both watched with heavy stomachs as the woman fed the boy pieces of ice. He didn’t give any response other than opening his mouth and swallowing it as it melted. When she was finished, his head hung once more.

“Are you liking our new place?” She inquired, motioning around them after placing the plate off to the side. “Or should I say, our old place?”

The boy let out a small noise, before he hoarsely breathed, “You broke… our deal.”

The woman grinned widely and turned back toward him, her eyes narrowed. “Oh? Did I?”

“Stupid old bat…” The guy hissed. His voice was so strained that they could barely understand him. “You agreed that… that we wouldn’t come back… if I married you…”

Cake reached up to throw a hand over Fionna’s mouth as the girl gasped.

“Well, sweetheart,” Ice Queen purred, lifting her left hand and shoving it in his face. The adventuresses could see a silver ring with a giant diamond around one of her fingers, shining in the dim light. “What are you going to do about it, hm? We’re already married and you’ve already taken a Royal Vow!”

Fionna’s eyebrows knitted in confusion. What was that? She’d never heard of it before… of course she’d heard of a Royal Promise, so she assumed this was similar. But still, she couldn’t be sure until she asked PG.

“You old hag…” The boy groaned as he let his head fall again.

Ice Queen’s triumphant face turned into one of anger and she held up her hand again, this time pointed at the boy. “I told you not to _call me that_!”

Fionna and Cake both couldn’t hold in their sharp gasps this time as the boy let out a loud cry of pain, clutching his chest in pain.

The cat grabbed her friend’s hand and bolted for the door. Fionna protested quietly and usually Cake would have agreed with her – they both hated running from fights – but as they slowed down at the bottom of the hill the feline stopped to explain.

“Fi!” She cried as she tried to calm the girl down. “Look- I have no idea with a ‘Royal Vow’ is, okay? But you saw what that witch did to him. If we barge in there and nab him, she’ll just zap him again! Right?”

Letting out a frustrated huff, Fionna took a moment to breath and calm down, before she nodded. “Right…”

“So we need to go to Gumball and ask him about this Vow thing,” Cake rationed. “Or else we could end up making a mistake and seriously hurting that kid.”

With a heavy sigh, the blonde-haired girl gave a numb nod and reluctantly looked back at the ice palace. “Okay… but let’s hurry.”

* * *

Prince Gumball had been torn away from his failed experiment (it had ended up turning the sugar into rocks, instead of making it resist water…) for a meeting with his guardsmen. It hadn’t taken long, but by the time it had finished he was tense and tired.

Still, when he spotted Fionna in the main entranceway he gave a warm smile and a wave. The sight of his friend always warmed his heart, even on his worst days.

This time, however, Fionna looked distraught. She rushed up to him and paused to catch her breath, which surprised the man. Usually she didn’t do much running, what with Cake doing most of the walking, but it appeared as if she’d run part of the way herself.

“PG…!” The girl wheezed as Cake came running up beside her. “What is a Royal Vow!?”

“Excuse me?” The Prince breathed, a little taken-aback by her appearance and the question.

“Please, just tell me!” Fionna begged, nearly in tears.

Gumball glanced down at Cake, who looked just as alarmed as her best friend. With a heavy breath, he cleared his throat and explained, “It’s a wedding vow.” The two girls gasped in horror, looking at each other, further raising his confusion. “Usually used in arranged marriages. The one who takes the vow pledges to do as the other wants and if the other person feels they are not… or, really, if they just feel like it… they can use magic to cause harm to them.”

Fionna and Cake both looked at each other in absolute horror for a few moments, before the blonde-haired girl grabbed hold of the Prince’s hands and clenched them tightly. “Is there any way to break it!?”

“Well, it’s not really like a Royal Promise,” Gumball explained, frowning deeply in confusion. “You can’t just… solve a math problem and make it go away, Fionna. But there is one way to break it. It’s not easy, though.”

“Tell me, please!” She begged, clenching his hand so tightly that he winced.

“Well,” The Prince hummed, ready to see her disappointed face. “Love.”

Fionna’s face screwed into confusion as she bit her bottom lip. “Love?”

“Exactly,” Gumball explained. “Someone has to love the captured person. Then they have to take the ring off of that person’s finger. No one else can take it off.”

“Oh glob, Cake!” The blonde-haired girl cried, turning toward her feline companion. “What do we do!?”

“I don’t know, sweetheart!” Cake declared, reaching her arms up to place them on Fionna’s shoulders. “Give me a moment to think, alright?”

“Could you please explain to me what all this is about?” Gumball inquired, eyebrows knitting together in confusion.

As if he were a second thought, Fionna turned to him and quickly explained. “Ice Queen’s got this guy in her secret room. He said that she promised not to come back to Ooo if he married her and she said he couldn’t do anything about it because he’d taken a Royal Vow.” She turned toward Cake once more, her eyes full of panic, before an idea occurred to her. “Wait! What if we sneak in there when Ice Queen’s not around-”

“Fi-” Cake started, frowning.

“-Let me finish!” The girl declared, her voice high-pitched. “What if we sneak in there when Ice Queen’s not around and ask that kid if he’s got someone who loves him?”

The feline’s eyes opened up for a moment before she thought about it. “That’s… actually kind of a good idea.”

“And if he _does_ , we nab that person and bring them to him to take the ring off!” Cheering, Fionna pushed a fist into the air. “Yeah! That’s gonna work, I just know it!”

“Fionna-” Prince Gumball attempted, but the girl was already running out with Cake on her heels. “Oh, glob… why do I think this is going to end badly?”

* * *

It took Ice Queen a good three hours to leave her palace again and as soon as she was gone, Fionna and Cake snuck inside. They approached the back room and quietly peaked inside for a few moments, surveying the scene. Then, as quietly as ninjas, they pushed open the door and slipped inside.

The guy was still seated, hunched over, in the chair made of ice. He was shivering and the closer they got, the more they realized that his body was not much more then skin and bones beneath his baggy, nearly see-through clothing.

Carefully, Fionna approached, her body tense and ready for any traps that might be sprung. But thankfully nothing happened and as she grew closer, he slowly lifted his eyes – though he kept his head down.

The boy let out a sharp, pained breath, his eyes widening slowly as the girl stepped into the light. Panic filled them as Cake followed her blonde best friend and slowly the boy leaned back, as if pulling away from them.

“It’s okay!” Fionna declared, holding up her hands to show she meant no harm. “We’re here to save you and junk.”

“You need to go,” He wheezed, grasping at the crown on his head and attempting to pull it down, over his face. “Just leave! You can’t be here!”

“No, it’s okay!” The blonde-haired girl cried, falling to her knees in front of him so she could look up at his face. “We know about the vow thing. We wanted to ask if there was anyone who loves you, who could break it? I mean like, because you can totally break it, dude! No worries. You just gotta tell us who loves you so we can get them to take off the ring!”

“No one loves me,” The boy breathed in response, still hiding his face behind the crown and his mop of hair. “So just go!”

“No way, dude. Your parents at least have to love you, right?” Fionna asked as she reached out to grab the crown. He flinched away and reached out to stop her, but her hands grabbed hold of the golden ring before his weak arms could grab her. She pulled it away and gently reached out to brush his bangs out of his face, her smile gentle.

Then it fell and slowly twisted into a look of horror.

“M-Marshall Lee!?”


	2. Chapter 2 and Junk

-Chapter 2 and junk-

Five years ago, around the time that Ice Queen had disappeared, one of Fionna’s good friends had gone missing. After a bad fight with Prince Gumball over glob only knows what, Marshall Lee had all but disappeared into the night without a word.

It had taken Fionna almost a year to get over his absence but eventually she came to terms with it, deciding that he had left because of something very important and if he ever came back, she would welcome him again with open arms.

This wasn’t exactly what she had in mind.

He barely looked like himself, so very thin that his face was hallowed out and paler than normal. He had dark circles under his cyan eyes and his hair looked like it hadn’t been washed in months, if not longer. But what frightened Fionna the most was the look of fear on his face as he stared up at her.

“Fifi, please,” The boy begged, still sounding nothing like himself. “Leave, before she gets back!”

“M-Marshall…” The girl whispered, still unable to come to terms with what she was looking at. “What… what are you doing here…?”

“Cake, just take her and go!” He yelled at the cat as his voice cracked. His fangs grew longer in a possible attempt to transform in order to scare the usually terrified cat, but he only managed to look more pathetic. “If Ice Queen comes back-”

“Sweetheart~! I’m home~!”

“Math!” Fionna cried as Cake grabbed her and pulled her into the large closet, pulling the shutter doors closed behind them. Momentarily the girl was reminded of when they’d once hidden in Marshall’s closet, but now was not the time to be thinking about such things.

Ice Queen came dancing through with a big smile on her face, before she paused and looked at him. “Oh, Mar-Mar! You’ve gone and taken your crown off! How can you be my wittle Ice-King if you don’t wear your wittle crown!”

Marshall let out a small sound that might have been of annoyance or pain, Fionna really couldn’t tell. He didn’t move as Ice Queen replaced the crown, only to let his head hang once more once it was on there.

“Anyways, I’ve got _loads_ to tell you!” She declared, spinning around once more before falling onto the bed like a giddy teenage girl. “I went to the Candy Kingdom and paid a visit to my dear Prince Gumba-”

“ _WHAT_!?” Marshall shrieked, surprising not only Ice Queen but Fionna and Cake as well. He threw himself out of the chair, the crown on his head flying off to the side as he flew forward. The white-haired woman stared, stunned, as he grabbed the front of her dress and gripped it, his feet leaving the floor and he levitated high enough that she was hanging off the ground as well. “I told you to _stay AWAY from him_!”

It took the woman a moment to regain her composure, but once she had she let out a loud growl and lifted a hand. Fionna and Cake watched in horror as the ring on her left ring finger began to glow and Marshall let out a pained cry, letting go of her instantly. He hovered in the air for a few moments, clutching his chest, before he finally dropped to the ground.

“I don’t know _what_ has gotten into you, Mar-Mar!” Ice Queen cried, standing over his crumped, wheezing form with her arms crossed. “ _Really_! Maybe it was a bad idea to come back to Ooo!” She hummed for a moment, stroking her chin, before shrugging. “Oh well!” The adventuresses watched as she reached down and grabbed hold of the back of Marshall’s shirt, picking him up as if he was weightless. “Either way, you need to learn a lesson!”

As the white-haired woman dragged Marshall from the room by the collar of his shirt, Fionna slipped out of the closet while Cake reached for her with a horrified expression. The cat followed after her human companion in alarm as the blonde-haired girl approached the mirror-door and peered out it.

Seeing Fionna’s face twist into horror once more, Cake glanced through the crack and suddenly felt very sick.

Ice Queen was dragging a now struggling Marshall toward the doorway and glaring down at him with a harsh expression. “This is going to keep happening if you don’t start-” With one quick heave, she threw him into the bright sunlight. “- _Behaving_!”

Marshall gave a terrifying hiss of pain and tried to crawl his way inside with weak arms. Ice Queen, however, placed a boot on his back and kept him in the sunlight, smiling cruelly down at him for a few moments.

It happened too fast for Cake to stop, after that. Fionna burst from the door with a strangled cry and blue eyes full of tears. As the young woman grabbed hold of a startled Ice Queen’s hair, Cake zipped out and scooped up Marshall, dragging him back into the ice palace to protect him from the harsh sunlight.

“How _dare_ you hurt my friend!” Fionna shrieked, bringing back a fist and throwing it right into the woman’s face. Ice Queen’s tiara went flying, but the blonde-haired girl didn’t stop there. She kept pulling her fists back and then thrusting them forward, punching the ice witch over and over again.

Eventually, after the cruel woman lost consciousness, Cake reached out and pulled Fionna back. The girl fought for a few moments before she seemed to regain composure, struggling to her feet so that she could rush over to Marshall.

After realizing that the weakened vampire was completely unconscious, Fionna motioned her feline friend over. “We have to get him back to the Candy Kingdom!”

With a heavy nod, Cake eyed Ice Queen nervously before she scooped up both the woman and the knocked out Marshall, covering them both with rubbery parts of her body (in separate areas, of course) before extending her legs and letting Fionna climb on board. With her heart in her throat, the cat began the far too long trek back to Candy Kingdom’s hospital.

\--

Today just wasn’t Bubba Gumball’s day.

After one of his guards had spotted Ice Queen around the kingdom the entire castle had been put on lock down. Thankfully, the woman hadn’t approached, instead waving from afar with a bright smile. Gumball wasn’t entirely sure that he was surprised, considering Fionna had claimed that she had found a husband… however his staff was still extremely concerned and they remained in lock down until the sudden appearance of Cake in the middle of the square.

He bolted quickly out the door to meet her as she approached the hospital, fearing the worst for Fionna. He’d never seen the adventuress get horribly hurt, but there was a first time for everything and he felt a sickness in the pit of his stomach as he ran full-speed.

However as Gumball ran in behind Cake as she slipped through the doors while shrinking down, he realized that something much, _much_ worse had happened.

The feline had carelessly dumped a knocked out Ice Queen onto the ground and she was quickly apprehended by guards. However most eyes were focused on the other form that Cake had carefully laid down as Fionna rushed to the person’s side.

Whoever they were, they were incredibly thin. No doubt Ice Queen wasn’t feeding the poor kid too well, considering most of her diet consisted of ice… but still, he was obviously starving and the idea of it made the Prince sick. On top of that, the kid had a messy mop of dark hair that fell in tangles around his head and in his face, blocking his appearance from view. He was dressed in some royal garb that was blue and silky, nearly see-through, revealing his thin form beneath it.

The worst part, at least in Gumball’s opinion, was that Fionna was grasping the boy’s hand with tears in her eyes. She then let out a breath and the Prince thought he heard in it a name that he’d never wanted to hear again.

“ _Marshall_ …”

It was then that Doctor Prince came rushing in, dropping to his knees beside Fionna and the blue-skinned person (he _refused_ to say who it was until he had some solid evidence). He took in the scene for a moment before motioning for a few attendants to come over. As they scooped up the kid to drag him off, the M. D. lifted his eyes to Fionna. “What happened?”

“Ice-Queen used that Royal Vow or whatever ring on him,” Fionna explained, quickly wiping at her eyes as the boy was carried away as if he weighed nothing. “Then she threw him into the sunlight! The globbing _sunlight_! She just, like… _tossed_ him in! Then kicked him and junk when he tried to run!”

“It’s alright, Fi,” Cake tried to assure the girl as Doctor Prince disappeared after his charge. “They’ll take care of him.”

Numbly, Gumball watched as the feline tried to console her sad best friend. His mind, however, was elsewhere…

Was that _really_ Marshall Lee? Fionna seemed convinced it was, but he just… didn’t want to believe it. Just because Marshall had disappeared five years ago and this kid was apparently allergic to sunlight, didn’t mean that it was the absent Vampire King…

Besides, he had every idea where Marshall was. The blue-skinned young man had disappeared into whatever shadows five years ago, after Gumball had politely asked him to leave.

…Well, okay, more like thrown him out.

Over the past five years the Prince had thought a lot about their fight and had come to find that he was entirely out of line. However by the time he’d figured that out, the older boy was long gone and Gumball wasn’t able to admit that to him.

Marshall hadn’t done anything to deserve the fight and in all actuality, he had handled the entire thing rather well. The Prince had let his frustration about running a kingdom and Ice Queen’s constant advances build up and he’d taken them out on the black-haired boy. And yet, after being thrown out of the palace, Marshall had just shrugged it off.

Or so Gumball had thought.

When the Vampire King disappeared he was angry, at first. He cursed the older boy for running away, but eventually came to realize that he was the one who _told_ him to go.

So Marshall had.

He’d thought that Ice Queen’s disappearance had just been a coincidence, but now the pieces were slowly starting to fit together. The dark haired boy had taken the queen and left the land of Ooo, though where they’d run off to was a mystery to the Prince.

But… why?

Trying desperately to ignore the guilt he felt at the fact that this entire thing was most likely his fault, Gumball wiped any sign from his face and helped Cake get Fionna to a chair, where the blonde-haired girl tried her best not to break down and cry once more.

“What do we do with Ice Queen?” The girl asked him, her eyes pleading for some sort of answer. “When she wakes up she’s just going to torture him again… we need to figure out a way to get that ring off of him!”

“Sweetheart, I hate to say this right now, but I don’t think there is a way,” Cake whispered, wrapping her arms around Fionna gently.

“No way!” The blonde cried in alarm, her eyes horrified. “His mom loves him, right!? And I love him- I mean, like a friend! He’s one of my best friends-!”

“Fionna,” Gumball whispered, his heart heavy as he shook his head. “When I said love, I meant _love_.”

Blue eyes widened and immediately filled with tears again. She dropped her face into her hands and sobbed openly once more. The Prince’s heart felt heavy, especially as Cake gave him a look that brought that nauseous feeling back to his stomach.

No, this was definitely not his day.

\--

Flame Prince had stopped by briefly in an attempt to console her, but Cake had asked him to leave after his appearance made Fionna more upset. He seemed a bit reluctant at first, but eventually bid them farewell with a sad look on his face. Gumball was secretly happy to see him go… as much as his best friend liked the boy, Flame Prince was extremely unstable and he honestly wasn’t in the mood to get his hospital burned down.

Eventually he and a few of his guards had come to an agreement about Ice Queen. For the time being they’d use sleeping potions to keep her knocked out, at least while Marshall could heal. After that, they weren’t allowed to interfere with a Royal Vow, so it was out of his hands.

(He really didn’t want to let it go, but he didn’t really have a choice.)

Doctor Prince had informed them that since Marshall had powers of ultra-speedy healing, the sun damage had done little more then made his skin hot. (To which Fionna argued that it had _hurt_ him and that needed to be taken into consideration.) The Vow’s magic wasn’t anything that medical science could heal, so the only real thing that needed to be addressed was how thin he was.

It was Gumball who had declared that since the Ice Queen didn’t eat much more then ice, that the Vampire had begun to starve due to a lack of red. He had to carefully explain to the members of staff that didn’t understand that although Marshall was a vampire, he usually didn’t suck blood, but rather shades of the scarlet pigmant. He seriously doubted that Ice Queen knew that and in the back of his mind he wondered if Marshall failed to tell her on purpose.

Eventually they were allowed into his room and Cake somehow convinced Fionna to curl up in an extra bed to rest. The poor girl had cried herself out and had fallen asleep with very little coaxing from her feline best friend.

With Cake curled up at the adventuress’ feet, Gumball put his walls down, taking a seat at Marshall’s bed side.

The boy’s hair was still a ratted mess and the Prince wondered how long it would be now if it were clean. It looked as if he hadn’t cut it in five years. His skin was so pale it was nearly white with just the tiniest hint of its normal blue, while his face was so hallow that he almost looked like a skeleton. His clothes had been removed and Gumball could clearly see each of his ribs, which brought a sick feeling to his stomach.

“I did this to you, didn’t I?” The prince asked, reaching out toward the other’s face but not daring to touch. He had no right to. “You left because I told you to. But why the Ice Queen, Marshall…?”

He wasn’t expecting a response, but the silence that followed his words made his heart fill his throat. The now twenty-two-year-old man sat back in his chair and closed his eyes, dropping his face into his hands second slater.

“Why did I do this to you?” He asked ominously, wishing he could just break down and cry right there. But no… if he started to sob then Fionna would wake and she would ask questions.

Questions… he’d always been afraid of those. Ever since he and Marshall had started dating all those years ago, he’d avoided them. He’d refused to let anyone know about it and Marshall had just kept saying, ‘Okay, man.’ He’d always been alright with everything, no matter what Gumball put him through. Pretty much the perfect boyfriend, aside from the occasional prank and constant teasing, though all in good fun.

It was the rest of the world that was imperfect, back then. There were problems in the kingdom that caused the Prince to become flustered and overwhelmed. On top of that, Ice Queen had begun to show her face nearly every day, interrupting his already hectic schedule.

Marshall had come around after a while with a grin on his face and a bouquet of liquorish ropes – one of their favorite past time treats, since both of them enjoyed the red-colored candy - and Gumball, extremely irritated from his last encounter with Ice Queen, had responded by snapping at him angrily.

_“I don’t have time for you, Marshall!”_

_“Okay, man. Chill,”_ Marshall had laughed easily, lowering the bouquet with a grin. _“I’ll just come by later.”_

 _“No!”_ The Prince had cried, grabbing fistfuls of his bubblegum hair and letting out a frustrated groan. _“I don’t want you to come back! I just want some time to **myself**! Between my kingdom and that globbing Ice Queen, I don’t have time for you anymore!”_

Marshall’s smile had wavered, before turning into a look of confusion. _“Gob, dude… you need to relax.”_

 _“I can’t relax!”_ Gumball had shrieked, lowering his arms and stepping forward to literally yell in the Vampire King’s face. _“I don’t have time to and I don’t have time for you! Just leave, Marshall! Don’t come back!”_

He could do nothing but regret those words now as he watched Marshall lay in bed, his breathing shallow. There wasn’t anything more he could do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -I’m so sorry if I made Marshall seem extremely pathetic in this chapter! It wasn’t my intention, but hopefully it’s understandable when you look at the circumstances surrounding his situation.
> 
> -I made Marshall’s eyes cyan because, after watching a bunch of episodes in one night, I noticed that in a lot of Marceline’s transformations her eyes turn cyan. I thought it would be a nice touch.
> 
> -I know that Ice Queen seems very cruel in this story. She’s quite a bit crueler then Ice King and I wanted to dabble deeper into a dark state of mind, so things in this chapter are quite a bit darker. I apologize if you dislike this.
> 
> -I'm sorry if the flash back made Gumball seem like kind of an ass. I'd imagine running a kingdom can be very stressful.


	3. Chapter 3 and junk

-Chapter 3 and junk-

It only took a few hours for Marshall to regain consciousness. Fionna was awake once more at that point and immediately rushed to his bedside as he groaned and blinked his eyes open.

“Marsh!” She cried, grabbing hold of one of his hands, concern written all over her young face. “Marsh, oh thank glob! You’re okay!”

The Vampire let out a few mumbled words as he stared at her, his eyes unfocused and confused. After a few moments he seemed to completely gain consciousness and suddenly sat up, jerking away and backing up against the wall. “Wha-!”

“It’s okay, you’re safe now!” Fionna declared, holding up her hands to show she wasn’t going to hurt him. “You’re in the Candy Kingdom Hospital. You-”

“No!” Marshall yelped, moving in an attempt to climb out of the bed. “No! I can’t be here, I can’t-…” He trailed off as his eyes landed on Gumball, standing near the back of the room. Slowly those cyan eyes filled with hurt and strangely, fear, making the Prince’s heart flutter with pain. Eventually the blue-skinned boy gained his composure and let out a raw wheeze. “You can’t be here!”

“Marsh?” Fionna questioned, looking between her dark-haired friend and the pink-haired man he was yelling at.

“You can’t-!” Marshall tried again, though he couldn’t seem to completely get out what he wanted to say. “Bubba, you need to _leave_!”

The Prince’s heart filled his throat as the memory played in his mind. He’d told Marshall to leave, all those years ago… was this the dark-haired boy trying to get him back? Not that he’d blame the other, but this kind of thing just didn’t seem like Marshall’s style. Had he really changed that much in five years?

“Relax, Marsh!” Fionna cried, reaching for him and easily shoving him back into the bed, as if he weighed nothing. “Look, everything’s math right now. Cool?” She held up her hands once more and he eyed her nervously. “Ice Queen’s locked away and PG had her knocked out with a sleep potion and junk.” Her words seemed to make the other boy relax and he slumped back against the wall heavily, his panic dying down. “Now why’d you want PG to leave?”

Cyan eyes nervously eyed the Prince, who felt as if he was going to throw up. Then, slowly, the Vampire King turned his gaze toward Fionna once more. “Because if Ice Queen shows up, she’ll try to nab him again.”

And then it all started to make sense.

Marshall’s sudden absence… Ice Queen’s disappearance… the Royal Vow and the promise Ice Queen had made to the Vampire King that they wouldn’t return to Ooo if he married her.

_Between my kingdom and that globbing Ice Queen, I don’t have time for you anymore!_

That was exactly the line Gumball had spoken to him, five years ago. And Marshall, unable to do much of anything about the Prince’s problems within his kingdom, had done the next best thing…

He’d taken Ice Queen away, so that his boyfriend could have some peace.

“Come on, Fi,” Cake’s voice cut into the silence that had filled the room as she grabbed Fionna’s hand, before starting toward the door. “I think these two need a few moments to talk things through.”

“What?” The girl inquired as the door closed behind them. “But-!” They could hear her muffled voice before she was too far down the hallway.

The silence that had fallen returned with an awkward vengeance and the Prince quietly stood away from the bed, looking anywhere but the tiny form on the hospital bed that had once been a proud and devious King. Marshall didn’t dare make a move and apart from his shallow breathing, he didn’t let out any sound for what felt like forever.

Eventually, however, the blue-skinned young man did speak, shifting uncomfortably on the bed before asking, “Why am I here?”

“Er-” Gumball replied quickly, before he paused to try and think of an answer. “Fionna brought you here,” He finally stated rather lamely, nervously moving closer to the bed and taking a seat.

“I know that,” Marshall mumbled, his cyan eyes down-cast and his shoulders slumped. “But I mean, why am I still here?”

The Prince’s teeth began to chew on his bottom lip and for a moment he was silent, his heart in his throat once more. Eventually he worked up the nerve to speak and cleared his throat, his voice becoming forced and regal. “We decided to hold you here with Ice Queen under a sleep spell until you’ve regained some weight. Under the law of the Royal Vow, we’re allowed to interfere in such circumstances.”

Marshall, however, wasn’t buying it. He lifted his eyes toward the pink-haired boy and gave him a blank look. “No, you can’t.”

Gumball’s lips pursed and he realized how stupid he must have sounded. Obviously, Marshall knew the rules of the vow, since he’d been the one to take it. “Alright, so we’re not supposed to. But Fionna couldn’t just stand by and let you be hurt.”

These were probably stupid words to say. Saying that Fionna had wanted to keep the other safe was like saying that he himself hadn’t really cared about doing so, which was the opposite of the truth. Gumball had been the one to push his councilmen into allowing the Vampire’s stay, breaking the laws of the Vow, not Fionna. But he’d implied that he didn’t care and it had no doubt hurt the other man’s feelings.

Marshall’s expression was blank and his eyes were unreadable. He gave no response, though he let his head drop, straggly hair falling down over his face.

“Let us help you,” Gumball whispered, on the verge of pleading with his ex-boyfriend, though he managed to keep his poise. “You’re going to die if you don’t, Marshall…” No reaction. The pink-haired prince puffed up his cheeks for a moment, before he leaned in a bit. “At the very least, let us give you one meal? You look like you haven’t had any red in years.”

After another few moments of silence, the black-haired boy finally reacted. He gave a meek nod and a hoarse whisper of, “One meal.”

Filling his heavy heart lighten considerably, Gumball nearly flew to his feet and promised to return quickly.

He felt like he was bursting with a new-found purpose, a feeling he hadn’t had in years. It was like he had a reason to live again, if only to help Marshall regain some strength.

To his surprise, when he reached the kitchen, he found Cake eating a sandwich. She spotted him and set it down, before approaching with a purpose. Pretending like he didn’t see her, the Prince went about searching the cabinets for something the vampire could eat.

“PG, I want to talk to you,” The feline addressed, not deterred by his lack of attention. After her spoken words he turned to look at her, however, and immediately his good feeling was lost to one of nerves. She meant business, he could read it on her face. “About Marshall Lee.”

“What about him?” The Prince feigned innocence, turning back to a cabinet and opening it back up.  “Is there really only sweets in here?”

“I think you know what,” The wise cat stated. He gave a heavy sigh and let his hands drop from the cupboard, hanging his head and turning toward her. “PG, you need to pull that ring off his finger.”

“I can’t,” Gumball replied a little too quickly. He felt like he couldn’t breathe.

The look that Cake gave him was a hard one and it was obvious that she knew better. “Look, Prince. The sooner you admit to yourself how you feel, the sooner you can release Marsh from Ice Queen’s spell!”

The Prince felt his stomach harden and his throat tighten up. In the back of his mind, he knew that the cat was right, but just as she’d said; he didn’t want to admit it to himself. There were just too many consequences.

Cake returned to her sandwich, but Gumball waited until she was long gone before he exited the kitchen with the food he’d promised Marshall. That sickly feeling in his stomach had returned, but he tried to push it aside as he opened the hospital room door, forcing a smile. “I brought you some Ketchup. I know it gives you weird dreams, but I figured it would be pretty easy on your stomach and you really like i-”

His voice cracked and the plate of ketchup packets dropped to the floor.

Marshall’s bed was empty.

Gumball burst from the room as quickly as he could and took off down the hall. Along the way he ran past Fionna, who yelled in surprise for a moment before following after him.

The Prince didn’t stop running until he’d reached the palace. The girl was probably fairly confused as he made toward the dungeons, but before he could throw open the door it flew off its hinges with a powerful blast of ice.

“Ice Queen!” Fionna cried in surprise, grabbing hold of Gumball and pushing him behind herself. The Queen stepped out slowly, with a large smirk on her sharp features. The blonde-haired girl gasped in shock as Marshall stumbled out behind her, looking as if he was about to drop. “Marsh… why?”

“Fi, just let it go,” The Vampire breathed, giving her a look of pleading. “Please.”

“No!” The blonde haired girl shrieked, reaching to her back and removing a sword that she’d acquired over the years. She was all about swords, after all. “I will _never_ accept this, Marsh! Ice Queen!” Fionna turned her attention toward the smirking, white-haired woman. “Let him go or I’m going to kick the math out of you!”

“I’d like to see you try!” The crazy Queen declared, holding up her left hand, where the silver ring glinted in the moonlight. “You even _try_ to touch me and I’ll hurt him!” Fionna instantly lowered her weapon, a look of fear on her face. “That’s right! You’ve got _nothing_ on me!”

“Wait!” Gumball cried, pushing in front of Fionna, who let out a surprised gasp. “Ice Queen! Leave him alone and…” He swallowed his pride and begged glob that his plan would work. “…And you can have me!”

“Wha-” Fionna managed to get out, but was cut off.

“NO!” Marshall yelped in alarm, his cyan eyes wide with horror.

“Oh, sweet Gumball, my dear,” Ice Queen purred, stepping forward until she was touching the pink-haired boy’s sugary face. “I’m afraid I’m already married… but…” She grinned, slowly. “That doesn’t mean I can’t have some sugar on the side!”

Her body jerked back suddenly as Marshall Lee grabbed hold of her arm, his fangs extended and his face screwed up with anger. “I told you not to _touch him_!”

“I’ll touch him if I icing please!” The white-haired woman snapped back, shoving the vampire away with a growl. “Remember who’s in charge here!”

As if their conversation was over, Ice Queen turned back toward a shell-shocked Gumball and reached for him again. This time, however, she was knocked to the side as Marshall’s fist collided with the side of her head.

The woman let out a loud growl and turned with her eyes full of fury. Marshall didn’t back down, however, letting out a hiss of anger with a newfound strength, completely fueled by rage.

“Mar-” Fionna started, but before she could even finish his name, Ice Queen shot out a spell and both she and Cake were frozen solid.

“Fionna!” Gumball gasped, before he turned his horrified eyes toward the fight about to take place. “Marshall, don’t do this!”

“Stay _out of this_!” The white-haired queen shrieked, this time sending a blast of snow his way, which sent him flying back. His body hit the wall of a candy and the world spun. He was stuck beneath a heavy layer of snow and slowly began to dig his way out as a group of his kingdom’s people started to form around them. “My people!” The Prince begged, catching their attention. “Please, find some way to release Fionna and Cake!”

If anyone could stop this fight, it was them.

Marshall’s wrath was blind now as he let out a scream. Slowly his body began to grow and change until he’d become his large bat-monster form, towering over all of the people around him.

“Oooh, scary,” Ice Queen taunted with a grin. She dodged as the vampire swiped at her, cackling loudly. “You can fight all you want, sweetheart, but you can’t stop the fact that you’re _mine_!”

The bat let out a pained shriek as the woman’s ring lit up. Gumball could almost _hear_ the magic crackling inside his chest, shocking his system and causing pain. He knew that if the woman used enough of it she could stop his heart instantly and he wasn’t sure if the Vampire could heal from that.

The candy people had pulled out a blow torch, but it seemed that Peppermint Maid couldn’t get it to start. The rest of his people were attempting to chip away at the ice block that held Fionna and Cake, but they weren’t making very much progress.

Despite the pain that the white-haired woman was causing him, Marshall continued to fight, swiping at her. Gumball could tell his strength was quickly diminishing, however, as his attacks became slower and easier for her to dodge.

She got too cocky after a moment, however, and stopped to laugh at how pathetic he’d become. It was then that one lengthy claw swiped across her, sending her flying toward the side. She hit the ground with a loud thud and sat stunned for a few moments, before her features twisted into a blind rage that the Prince had never seen before.

“ _Marshall Lee!_ ” Ice Queen shrieked so loudly that the sugar glass in a few nearby windows actually cracked. Gumball let out a heavy breath and began to struggle even more, finally managing to break the surface of the heavy snow pile on top of him.

Marshall’s pained cry was unlike any of the other’s had been. He barely managed to stay on his feet, stumbling around and gripping his chest painfully. The Prince rushed up to his side and stared up at him with a horrified expression for far too long, before he swallowed down his pride and fear, finally deciding that it was time to end this.

“Marshall Lee Abadeer!” The pink-haired boy cried with such force that Ice Queen turned to look at him, though she didn’t cease her attack. “I love you!”

For a few moments, everything was still. Marshall’s bat-like body went rigid with his back arched, his large cyan eyes open wide, staring upward. While he was stunned, Gumball reached up to one delicate claw and grabbed hold of the silver ring that bound the vampire to Ice Queen. With a deep breath, he pulled as hard as he could and stumbled backwards, holding the silver object in his hand.

“No!” The queen cried in alarm as her own silver ring began to melt on her finger. “NO!”

The Prince ignored her, watching as Marshall’s body began to twist back into its normal form. With a deep breath he threw aside the ring and rushed forward in time to catch the other as he fell lifelessly to the ground, completely unconscious.

“Marshall?” Gumball breathed, cradling the other’s head against his shoulder. He reached up to place his fingers against the boy’s neck so he could feel for a pulse, but a loud, angry growl caught his attention.

“I’m going to _kill_ you, Marshall Lee!” Ice Queen shrieked, summoning up her ice powers before any of the Prince’s guards could make it to her. From the corner of his violet eyes, Gumball could see Fionna finally break free of her ice prison, but it was far too late.

The spear of ice shot off and Gumball reacted, curling around Marshall like a mother protecting her young.

The last thing he felt was pain as the spear tore through his back, before everything went black.


	4. Chapter 4 and junk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that vampires usually don't have pulses in stories, but in this particular story, let's say they do.

-Chapter 4 and junk-

Bubba Gumball had never been so happy that he was made out of gum. If he’d been human like Fionna, or a vampire like Marshall, he likely would have died. However it was relatively simple for Doctor Prince to put him back together, though it had taken a bit of extra candy, happily donated by a few of his subjects.

Still, his chest hurt a bit from the healing process as he awoke in a hospital bed. He obviously wasn’t in the intensive care unit, since the room was full of beds and there was no privacy.

To the Prince’s surprise, he found himself gazing at Flame Prince, who returned his look of surprise with equal emotion. The young man’s body was slightly greyed and his usually aflame hair hung limply over his head and face. It was part of a potion that Gumball had engineered years ago so that Fionna could touch the young man without getting hurt, while also leaving the prince uninjured as well.

“I’ll get the doctor,” He stated, getting up from his seat. Then, as an afterthought, the boy looked at him. “Fionna’s with Marshall. We’ve been trading. Just so you don’t think she hasn’t been by you or anything.” Then he left without another word.

Doctor Prince entered the room only moments later, coming up to him with that expression of knowledge, as if taking in the whole scene and processing it without showing a reaction. “How are you feeling?” He inquired.

“A bit sore,” Gumball informed, moving to get out of bed. “How long was I out?”

“About a day,” The Doctor informed. “Mr. Abadeer is still in critical condition and hasn’t awoken. When we first received him, his heart had completely stopped.” The Prince wasn’t surprised that the man had immediately known he would ask about Marshall – he had admitted his love for the Vampire King in front of his whole kingdom – but the man’s news made him choke in horror. “We had to cut open his chest to manually start it once more, which was extremely difficult with how thin he is, but we eventually were able to. I’ll admit, there were several moments where I was about to give up, but your staff refused to let me.” He lowered his head the slightest bit, giving the pink-haired man a knowing look. “They didn’t want their prince to be sad.”

Gumball’s heart swelled with an overwhelming feeling of pride, comfort, and love. His people… accepted him?

Fionna came rushing into the room at that moment, her eyes full of relief. “PG!”

“I’m alright, Fionna,” He assured as he grabbed his shirt from the chair that Flame Prince had been sitting in, seeing her cheeks flush in embarrassment. After pulling it on and buttoning it up quickly, he then turned to the brown-haired doctor, clearing his throat. “May I see him?”

“Of course,” The doctor hummed. “I wouldn’t want to keep you from him. Your people might riot.”

Trying not to smile, Prince Gumball followed Fionna out of the main care unit and down the hall, where intensive care was. About halfway there, the girl tried to make conversation.

“They’re forcing liquids and stuff in him,” She informed. “Tomato soup and what not. But it’s not really sustaining him, since he’s not eating the red. DP said if he doesn’t wake up soon, he probably won’t at all.”

Gumball tried to push away the feelings of dread, offering her a comforting smile. “We both know he’s a fighter, Fionna. I’m sure he’ll make it through.”

The blonde-haired girl gave an extremely forced smile. “Of course he will! I know that. Really, I do.” She wasn’t convincing anyone.

As they stepped into Marshall’s room, a rush of emotions filled the Prince’s chest and he slowly moved to take a seat beside his ex-boyfriend, feeling sick to his stomach. This wasn’t like the last time… no, this time they had heart monitors and an oxygen mask on the vampire, which meant they were really concerned that he wasn’t going to make it. This time they’d had to start his chest with their _hands_ , and they’d almost given up. This time Marshall looked like a little kid, instead of his normal 18-year-old appearance, with his body appearing tiny beneath the thin white sheets.

Fionna cleared her throat from her seat beside Flame Prince, who looked a bit uncomfortable and awkward. Still, the boy stayed, always willing to comfort his long-term girlfriend. When Gumball turned toward her, she avoided his eyes, like she wanted to ask something but felt weird about it.

“Please, Fionna,” The Prince sighed, slumping heavily in his chair. “Just say what you want to.”

“Err…” She breathed, reaching up to scratch the back of her hat-covered head. “So… you and Marsh, huh?” Blue eyes lifted just long enough to see him numbly nod, before they lowered again. “Uh… why didn’t you ever tell me and junk?”

A bit surprised by her words, Gumball’s expression slowly softened into a smile. “Is that what you worried about?”

Fionna looked up at him in confusion. “What? Why else would I be?”

“Well…” It was his turn to be shy and avoid eye contact. “I wanted to tell you, but I was afraid…”

The blonde-haired girl sat up in surprise. “Of what, dude?”

With a heavy sigh, the prince looked up at her. “That we wouldn’t be accepted. Not just by you!” He was quick to say this as a hurt look began to cross her face. “By everyone. He didn’t really care what people thought, of course – I mean, it’s _Marshall_ – but I… I was scared that if it got out, my people would be… well, disgusted.”

“What?” Fionna breathed. “Why, man? You nut! The candy people globbing _love_ you!”

“Because,” He sighed. “It’s… well, it’s Marshall.” After a moment he realized it sounded as if he was ashamed and he quickly held up his hands. “N-not like that! I mean that… well, most of my people are terrified of him. They don’t _know_ him, so all they see is that he’s a vampire and that terrifies them. I was scared that if I admitted we were together that they would think I didn’t have their best interest in mind.”

The blonde stared at him for a long moment, seemingly dumbstruck by her words. Silence stretched around the room and when someone finally spoke, Gumball was surprised.

“I don’t really know if I’m allowed to say this,” Flame cut in, his voice a bit meek. “But… your people trust you, Prince Gumball. They trust your judgment.”

“FP’s right, dude,” Fionna agreed with a nod, looking from her boyfriend back to the pink-haired man. “They know you wouldn’t do anything to harm them.”

“…Are you forgetting I released an army of zombies on my people?” Gumball dead-panned. “Twice?”

“By accident, man!” The girl cried, throwing her hands up. “I mean on purpose! You wouldn’t hurt them on purpose. Glob, way to be literal.”

The pink-haired prince puffed up his cheeks and turned his attention back to Marshall. His stomach fluttered with awkwardness, but he reached out and gently touched the vampire’s pale face, feeling his cold skin.

Fionna whispered something to Flame and they both stood, leaving the room without another word.

Silently, Gumball removed his fingers from Marshall’s face and laid them on the vampire’s hand, holding it gently. It took him a few moments, but eventually he worked up the nerve to speak, although he was unsure if the other could even hear him. “…I’m sorry.”

He hadn’t been expecting a response and was silently glad there was none. With a deep breath, the prince let all of his feelings and thoughts fall from his lips as he leaned forward and resting his head on Marshall’s much too thin stomach.

“I’m sorry!” He repeated, desperately. “I never meant to hurt you… I never…” A sob left his lips, sounding more like a hiccup. “I wish I could take it back, Marshall… I wish I could go back in time and tell you not to leave. I’m so sorry… You don’t deserve this…”

As quickly as it’d come, his sadness gave way into anger, which filled him with a tense feeling that shook through his body.

“Why!?” Gumball demanded, sitting up and leaning over the vampire, grabbing his sharp shoulders with a gentle, but firm grip. “Why would you do this!? You’re smarter than this, glob it, Marshall! So _why_!? There were other ways… there were other things that could have been done! You didn’t-” His rage deflated and he fell forward, onto the unconscious man’s chest. “…You didn’t have to get hurt.”

His steam ran out and the pink-haired boy lay there, flopped over Marshall’s chest. He remained in that position for quite some time, even as nurses came in and out of the room to check on the patient.

Eventually, however, he knew he’d have to leave. He had duties to attend to, including deciding what to do with Ice Queen. But for now, the thought of leaving his loved one alone made his chest hurt and so he settled down and listened to the heart monitor and the sounds of Marshall’s forced breathing, finding comfort in them.

After some time he asked the nurse for something and she happily complied with a small smile. Fionna returned to help him, Flame with her although he just stood awkwardly in the background once more, not very comfortable but still supportive.

They slowly sat Marshall up against Gumball’s chest and began to gently tug at the mess that was once his hair with a comb. It took almost an hour, but eventually they managed to work out enough tangles that they could proceed to the next part without as much trouble.

Fionna motioned Flame over and he bent down to a bucket the nurse had placed on the floor, full of water. He touched the side, sending a wave of warmth through it until it was somewhat warm. The blonde-haired girl then handed Gumball a large bowl, which he gently placed under Marshall’s head, careful to hold his neck up so that it wasn’t resting uncomfortably against the plastic. Fionna grabbed a cup and began to gently pour the water over the black-haired boy’s head while her pink-haired friend brushed his fingers through the tangles.

It took some time, but eventually they managed to work out the rest of the tangles and Gumball began to lather Marshall’s hair with shampoo, feeling somewhat eased by the feel of the other’s hair between his fingertips.

It took about four washes and six treatments of conditioner, but eventually the vampire’s hair was back into a manageable condition.

After cleaning up, the three friends sat in silence, watching Marshall breathe and silently congratulating themselves on a job well done.

Eventually, Fionna spoke, after leaning against her firey-haired boyfriend. “Man, can you imagine? What did that globbing freak do to him?”

“I’m trying not to,” Gumball admitted, feeling his heart break.

She gave a numb nod and they fell back into a silence that lingered until well after everyone had left.

\--

When Marshall Lee finally awoke, his entire body felt heavy and weak. The world was in and out of focus and for what felt like forever, he wasn’t exactly sure what was going on around him. Eventually the sound of steady beeping reached his brain and he attempted to blink open his eyes against a bright light.

Feeling began to creep through his body, inch by aching inch. From somewhere in the room he heard a voice and attempted to turn his eyes toward the sound, but he couldn’t make out much more then blurs of colors and light.

“…shall?” The voice was saying and he felt something warm touch his cheek. His face… there was something on his face. Something that wrapped around his head and made the sound of wind blowing. Oh… it was an oxygen mask. It made sense, since he could feel the air against his face and it only made the sound when he breathed in.

“Marshall…?” Came that voice again and he tried to place it as the hand moved to run through his hair. Wait, _through_ it? Last he’d checked, his hair was a tangled, unwashed mess.

“Marshall, can you hear me?” There it was again. Giving a strained sigh, he blinked his eyes open again and squinted against the light. Blinking only when necessary, despite the stinging that the brightness caused, he let his eyes slowly focus until he could make out a glob of pink hair that stuck up in spikes.

“B-” He tried to respond, but found his voice cracking.

“Shhh,” The voice said gently, that hand still running through his hair. “Don’t talk. I’m going to get the doctor. I promise I’ll be right back.” Then he was gone, leaving him alone.

Letting his eyes dart around the room, Marshall tried to work out where he was. Judging by the oxygen mask on his face and the other’s words, he was in the hospital, but he could never be too sure.

He ached, but he was used to it so he just brushed it off. Instead, he attempted to lift a hand so he could remove the mask on his face, only to find that his body didn’t want to respond. With a meek frown, the dark-haired boy attempted once more, but after only making it a few inches off of the bed, he decided to just wait patiently.

Eventually the other returned and Marshall was able to confirm that the form was in fact Prince Bubba Gumball. Judging from the scene beside his bed – which he could see almost completely clear, now – the other had been drinking tea at his bedside with a book in hand.

A brown-haired guy with glasses followed the prince in and began to look at the machines beside Marshall’s bed for a moment. He then turned toward the vampire and held up what looked like a miniature flash light. “I’m going to shine this in your eyes for a few seconds. It will probably sting a bit and I’m sorry for that.”

As the light hit his sensitive eyes, a memory shot through his brain that immediately made him jerk away, without his control. But it was only when he saw the stunned faces of Gumball and the doctor that he realized his fangs were extended and that he’d hissed at them.

Panic flooded his mind and he squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the chest-tightening shock that was sure to come.

But it never did. Instead, a gentle hand touched his forehead once more, gently stroking, easing his anxiety. “It’s okay,” Gumball said, softly. “It’s just us, Marshall. No one is going to hurt you ever again. Ice Queen’s gone. She’s not coming back.”

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Marshall let his eyes open again and this time he managed remain still as the doctor used the flashlight once more.

Eventually the man deemed him well enough to remove his mask and with the prince’s help, they carefully slipped it off of his face. The lack of it felt foreign on his skin but the feeling quickly disappeared as he flexed his jaw.

“I can’t move,” the Vampire King croaked, only to frown at the sound of his own voice.

“I’m not surprised,” The doctor informed as Gumball looked extremely worried. “We’ve been feeding you, but according to Prince Gumball, you need color to really retain weight. We’ve been unable to feed that to you, so although you haven’t lost any weight, you haven’t gained any, either.” As Marshall frowned, the doctor continued speaking. “But now that you’re awake, we can start you on a healthy diet. The Prince had explained to me the various things you enjoy eating and we’ve made a list of what would be best to start you out with.”

Numbly, Marshall glanced at the pink-haired prince. He was reminded of a time when-

No! He wasn’t going to let himself think about the past. Swallowing down the anxiety that filled him once more, the vampire slowly forced a nod, before managing to turn his lips upward. “I can’t wait. I’m starving.”

Gumball seemed to relax at his forced smile, obviously believing it to be real. The doctor gave him the okay to eat and left without anything more, leaving the two young men alone.

They sat in awkward silence for some time and Marshall tried to remember exactly what happened. He knew that he was free of the ring because he couldn’t feel its tight grip on his aching finger, but he couldn’t really piece together what had happened. Part of him thought that maybe he should ask the pink-haired young man, but instead he found himself slyly commenting, “So… you grew up.”

The words seemed to take the prince by surprise. “Um… yes, I suppose I did. It had been over five years, after all.”

Marshall wasn’t able to push the initial shock away and so it was relayed in his expression and voice. “It… has?”

The look of pity on the pink-haired boy’s face make him feel sick to his stomach. “Yes,” Gumball whispered, rather meekly. “It has been.”

They fell into an uncomfortable silence for a few moments, until it was broken by the door coming open. A candy nurse stepped into the room, baring a plate full of red Jell-O and raspberries. The prince thanked her with a warm smile and took the plate, setting it to the side.

It was then that she did something that completely surprised the vampire king – she turned to him and gave him a warm, gentle smile. As far as he knew, the people of the candy kingdom were terrified of him… did they view him as pathetic, now that he was weak and bed ridden? The thought did not settle well with him. He didn’t particularly care if they were terrified of him, but he didn’t want to seem frail.

“What was that about?” He had to ask after she’d left as Gumball opened up one of the Jell-O packets and pulled out a spoon. “Why was she smiling at me like that?”

Those pink cheeks turned very red suddenly and the prince coughed into his hand. “I know you like cherry, so I specifically requested it.”

The dark-haired boy opened his mouth to press the question, but then something clicked and he quickly snapped it shut. No, he had to let things go. It wasn’t good to talk about them. It never was.

His heart began to beat faster – he could both feel it and hear it on the monitor beside his bed – as the pink-haired young man suddenly climbed into the bed, gently placing his fingers against the back of Marshall’s head and sitting him up. Gumball then rested the other’s head against his shoulder, cradling him like a child, before grabbing a spoon full of Jell-O.

Marshall could already feel the panic rising in his chest. The touch was foreign and uncomfortable and for a few moments he tensed, waiting for the painful shock to come.

But then soft, gentle arms wrapped around him and a warm cheek pressed against the side of his neck. He felt his tense body relax instantly, like some sort of spell falling over his body. He turned his head until he could see the prince’s tender, stunning features as the other held him close. Protecting him.

 Eventually Gumball released him and began to feed him the gelatin substance. At first it was extremely odd, sinking his fangs in and attempting to remove the color. It was like he was learning to do it for the first time and he couldn’t quite figure out how to make it work. But eventually the fresh taste of scarlet filled his throat and he could feel strength returning to him almost instantly.

He ate with a newfound hunger that he’d managed to curve all these years – had it really been _five?_ – and within moments he’d finished his light meal, leaving him hungry for more. The ancient man didn’t request anything else, however, knowing that if he consumed too much his sensitive system would just reject it and he’d end up throwing it all back up.

The pink-haired prince eventually had to bid farewell in order to attend some meeting or another. They hadn’t spoken much, but as soon as he’d left Marshall found himself longing for the other’s company once more. For some reason, Gumball’s presence brought him comfort and eased all of his feelings of fear.

_“Marshall Lee Abadeer, I love you!”_

The Vampire King’s heart began to beat faster as the memory finally reached his mind.

Gumball had saved him. He’d admitted his love for the vampire and he’d removed the ring.

In front of his whole kingdom.


	5. Chapter 5 and junk

-Chapter 5 and junk-

His memory was jumbled and he could only put together bits and pieces of it. He wasn’t exactly sure when they’d started dating – it was some time after Fionna had found a boyfriend and stopped being so obsessed with Gumball, he knew that much – or who had made the first move. Most of their time together was jumbled and only a few moments stood out amongst them.

Gumball baking him strawberry pies, him with his axe and a serenade on the prince’s balcony. A few conversations about food and what they preferred, including the prince’s admission that he hated lemons.

But amongst those months and months of jumbled memories was not a single one in which the word ‘love’ was mentioned.

Had he thought about it? Not really. Marshall had never considered himself the lovey-dovey type. He could clearly remember attending a ‘couples-only’ movie with Fionna and leaving with the girl after seeing too many public displays of affection.

Yet the idea of the prince loving him didn’t leave him unsettled. In fact, if anything, it made his quickly rising anxiety lessen slightly. Did he love the other man back…? He wasn’t even sure what love felt like. He’d never felt anything like it, except for his mother (which was still on rocky terms the last time he’d seen the woman, so he wasn’t even sure he could claim that one).

Before he could lose himself in the thought of it, however, the door came open and revealed a bright-eyed Fionna with her best friend at her side.

“It _is_ true!” The girl cried, rushing over to his bed side. Gumball had left him propped up against the wall, which made him feel a little less pathetic. “Dude, you’re finally awake!”

“I am,” Marshall agreed, before he seemed to realize what she’d said. “Wait… finally?”

“Yeah, man!” Fionna declared as she took off her ever-present green backpack and took a seat in the chair beside his bed. “You’ve been out for… glob, Cake, how long has it been?”

“Almost four months,” Cake answered as she stretched up to take a seat on the end of the bed.

The Vampire King’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Four… months?”

His shoulders felt heavy. Had he really been out for four months? Of course, to a vampire as old as him, four months was nothing… but after the past five years – the thought still seemed absurd to him – passing by painfully slow, the thought of wasting four months of his newfound freedom asleep was unsettling.

“Yeah, man,” She whispered, rubbing the back of her head and turning her face away. “No one thought you were ever going to wake up. But dude, PG never gave up on you. Glob, he spent like, every day here, at least for a little while. Sometimes he even slept here and junk.”

Marshall didn’t give a response. He wasn’t really sure what he could say, anyways.

He tried to give the blonde-haired girl his attention as she began to speak, but every time he attempted to respond, something would click in his mind and he’d keep his mouth shut.

“And dude, it was crazy,” Fionna was saying, now standing with a sword in her hand. “I swiped the hell out of that crazy dragon, man! It was totally math!”

Cake kept glancing at the dark-haired boy with strange looks, as if she was waiting for him to say something. Eventually he worked up the nerve to force a smile and comment, giving a generic, “Yeah? What happened then?” No opinions, no offer of his own input.

“And _then_!” She cried, pumping a fist into the air. “We-”

The ranting continued from there and the vampire tried his best not to tune it out. He attempted to push down the anxious feeling in his stomach and listen – listening was good – but his mind kept wandering slowly.

“You look tired,” Fionna’s voice cut in eventually and Marshall let his eyes open. He hadn’t realized he’d closed them. “You should rest, dude. You don’t have anything to worry about now, with Ice Queen gone.”

Reminded of that fact once again, Marshall carefully let a question slip through his lips. “What did Bubba do with her?”

The blonde looked surprised, before glancing at Cake. After a moment she answered, “We took her crown, and then sent her to the Nightosphere.”

The words surprised the Vampire King, his stomach knotting up at the idea. He knew how his mother’s kingdom was outside of her castle. Sending her there was a rather cruel thing to do, especially for Gumball, who had only locked the woman up once during her many years of kidnapping and tormenting him. And that time was just to help his people recover from a spell she had cast, turning them all into icicles.

Marshall changed the subject after that by idly asking Fionna about her boyfriend. Her cheeks turned red and she began to mumble to herself, effectively forgetting about the previous conversation. Inwardly, he couldn’t seem to get the thought of the candy prince doing something so cruel out of his head.

It stayed with him for quite some time.

\--

The terrible feeling that had settled itself inside of Bubba Gumball’s stomach was finally gone. Ice Queen was trapped in a place she could never escape from, his workload was light, and – the best thing of all, in his opinion – Marshall Lee was finally awake and eating.

He saw to it that the weakened Vampire had someone with him at all times, still very frightened that something was going to go wrong, but over the previous two weeks his mind had eased considerably. Marshall was growing stronger and was up to a healthy weight once more, then on top of that he was smiling and laughing whenever the prince was around.

After a long conversation with Doctor Prince, he managed to convince the MD that his ex-boyfriend was ready to be released from his care. The doctor had seemed reluctant, but eventually he agreed and signed the paperwork.

Marshall was all smiles when Gumball told him the news. As soon as he’d left the room his shoulders relaxed and he took a deep breath of relief, closing his eyes and enjoying the moment.

“Come on,” The Prince stated after a few moments, smiling at the scene. “I’ve got something to show you.”

The vampire turned to look at him, before slowly grinning. “What’s up, man?”

Delighted to hear such relaxed words coming from the other, Gumball motioned for him to follow. Together, they exited the hospital and made their way up to the palace, where the prince pulled out his remote control and clicked it twice. The door opened up and he motioned the other inside, before locking it behind them.

In a comfortable silence, they headed up stairs and up to the prince’s bedroom, where he turned to his companion and held up his hand for him to wait. “Now, I’ve got to warn you, this is going to be a bit of a surprise.”

“Yeah?” Marshall asked, his eyebrows lifting curiously.

“I must prepare you~” The Prince went on, waving his arms in front of himself, feeling a bit silly but reveling in the ability to act a little bit like a child. It had been so long since he’d done anything like that and it felt kind of… well, nice. “King of the Vampires, Marshall Lee Abadeer… behold!”

Grabbing the door handle, Gumball threw it open dramatically. He stood, frozen in place, as the vampire peered his head and looked around in confusion. “What the plum, man?” The other inquired, turning to look at him. “There’s nothing here.”

The pink-haired prince cleared his throat, remaining in position. “I said…” he whispered under his breath, before raising his voice one more. “Be-HOLD!”

Nothing. Marshall stared at him with an unreadable look.

“Glob it!” Gumball groaned, throwing his arms up and moving into the room. “Schwabl, we rehearsed this for hours!”

A white ball of fluff came walking out from behind the bed, movements stiff and eyes dead. Marshall, however, looked extremely surprised as the zombie cat began approaching him quickly and jumped into his arms without being prompted.

“You…” The king breathed, turning to look at him. “You took care of her?”

“For the past five and a half years,” Gumball informed with a gentle smile. “Even though we were never really fond of each other. But she’s grown on me and I’ve… well, I’ve fed her.”

The cat curled up in Marshall’s arms and began to purr a stiff, gargled purr. She was quite the odd little thing, but he’d loved her ever since she was a kitten. In fact, he loved her so much that after she’d died he raised her from the dead so that he never had to be without her. Before he’d befriended Fionna, she was really the only being he cared about.

Or rather, that was the story he’d told Gumball, five years prior.

“Thank you,” The vampire mumbled numbly, taking a seat on the prince’s bed and holding his cat to his chest with an unreadable expression.

“She can go home with you, if you want,” The pink-haired man informed after a few moments, sitting beside his companion.

To his surprise, however, Marshall shook his head. “I think she’s better off with you, right now. Until I get back on my feet, so to speak.”

Gumball couldn’t help but frown, but he quickly masked the look with a knowing smile. “I understand.”

They spent some time just sitting together with the happy cat, but eventually the reminder that the sun was about to rise hung over them. Marshall seemed reluctant to leave his precious pet, but he was obviously determined to leave her with the prince. Eventually the dark-haired vampire managed to pull himself away from his beloved cat and the two of them left the prince’s room, trying to ignore the strangled cries as they walked away.

Lord Monochromicorn seemed almost reluctant to give them a ride, but the pink-haired young man decided to brush it off as the stallion’s dislike of being pulled away from his girlfriend. The trip was quiet and Marshall seemed a bit distant, but Gumball didn’t try to drag him out of his thoughts. No doubt he was missing his loving pet. The prince hoped that they would be reunited soon.

Marshall seemed a bit lost when they reached his pale blue house, but Gumball was prepared. He removed the key he’d had made – a complicated process involving Cake’s lock picking skills and a master keymaker – and unlocked the place for him.

The inside was spotless, as he’d expected. Just days before, he’d asked his castle cleaning staff to clean the vampire’s house for his return. They’d come back with horror stories of it’s disgusting appearance, but he’d only laughed them off and cooked the crew a feast like no other in thanks.

What did they expect after five years?

“It’s… clean,” was all that his companion said as he stood in the middle of the living room. The prince decided to take it as a compliment.

“I had the refrigerator stocked up with all of your favorite things,” Gumball informed, unable to hide his smile. “As well as the shelves. You shouldn’t need to shop for a while. Just don’t eat too much and make yourself sick, alright? Stick to your normal diet.”

“Got it,” The vampire replied, turning toward him with a smile. “Thanks, Bubba.”

“Of course, Marshall,” Gumball replied gently.

In the bottom of his stomach, an unsettling feeling was beginning to grow. However he pushed it away and bid the vampire farewell, confident that the king could handle himself now.

With a firm nod, the prince climbed in Mo-Chro and flew off, feeling good about his decision.

\--

As soon as Gumball was out the door, Marshall let his fake smile drop and his relaxed demeanor tense up. It was quite a bit of work, pretending to be so happy and relaxed.

The only time he felt even slightly close to that was when the prince was touching him.

He hadn’t been alone for more than a few moments during the few weeks he’d been awake, and the suddenness of his solitude hit him like a wave of heat. He felt sick, standing in the middle of this living room that was supposed to be his, but felt foreign.

There were his white chairs (once upon a time they’d been red, but he’d gotten hungry), incredibly uncomfortable, but it hadn’t ever bothered him. His picture of Mary and baby Jesus – _that_ had been a difficult thing to explain to Gumball, who hadn’t been around before the mushroom war – as well as the ladder that led up to his bedroom. The entrance to his kitchen with the bar-style opening, where he used to sit and idly munch on whatever, as well as an all-too-familiar axe that lay against the wall, polished like it was brand new.

It was too warm. That’s what he decided. Far too clean and far too warm.

He could hear a pounding in his ears that quickly sped up and it took the ancient man a few moments to realize that it was his heartbeat. His chest tightened up and he stood there, tense, just waiting.

Alone. He was alone. He didn’t know when it would come, but it always did. It always came when he was by himself, even if he wasn’t doing anything wrong.

All of the slight ease he had begun to feel over the past few weeks vanished instantly. His eyes began to dart around, taking in things piece by piece and finding only errors. Only mistakes. And mistakes were pain.

Things needed to be fixed before she saw. If she saw, she would be mad. And when she was mad, she hurt him.

He didn’t want her to be mad.

\--

Fionna felt kind of bad, now that she had time to think about it. It had been a week since Marshall had left the hospital and she hadn’t visited him once. Not that she didn’t have a reason! So many things had been happening and she just hadn’t had the time, with one adventure after another. A prince to save here, a fight to defuse there. But she felt a bit eased knowing that PG had been visiting the vampire at every spare moment.

Still, after a good night’s rest she was happy to be head to the king’s house, tape recorder in hand. She figured that they could have a relaxing jam session, since music always made Marshall happy back in the day.

Cake tagged along, bringing her dulcimer, even though Fionna had begged her not to.

They approached the blue house with cheerful chatter, before pausing outside and looking at each other slowly.

“You remembered the strawberries, right?” Cake asked and Fionna grabbed her backpack, quickly shifting through it. Upon spotting the packet of the fruit, she let out a sigh of relief and nodded. “Good, because I really don’t want to go _all the way_ back.”

They approached the door and Fionna lifted a hand, knocking. After a few moments with no answer, she glanced at Cake and shrugged. “Maybe he’s in the bathroom or something.”

“I’m still not all that sure how he pees, if all he drinks is a _color_ ,” Came complained, while she stuck her paw in the key hole. “I mean, is it like a liquid or something? What does it even _taste_ like?” She heard the lock click and removed her paw as Fionna began to turn the knob. “And the last time I asked him that he was all, ‘It just tastes like _red_ , son’. What kind of an answer is tha-”

The feline’s voice fell silent as they stepped into the living room.

The pale blue walls were soaked, dripping water everywhere. The furniture was all missing – including the pictures on the walls – and there were piles of almost completely melted ice sitting in various places on the floor. Marshall’s bass guitar was missing from its usual spot, as was his amp, and even the ladder up to his room was missing. On top of all that, the entire room was _freezing_.

“…Marshall?” The blonde-haired girl whispered, her voice cracking slightly. Cake took in the scene, completely shell shocked, while Fionna slipped through the kitchen doors and looked for the man.

After glancing quickly through his cabinets and fridge, she found them fully stocked, the objects in them untouched. In fact, the fruits in the fridge were beginning to go bad.

“Fi,” Cake said, getting her attention. Fionna turned as the cat nodded up toward the opening in the ceiling, which led to the vampire’s bedroom. With a numb nod, she grabbed hold of Cake’s neck and held on as the cat stretched her body upwards, bringing them both upstairs.

The bedroom was in pretty much the same state. The only furniture that remained was the bed, but it was soaked along with the rest of the room. The lights were all off and at first Fionna thought that maybe Marshall wasn’t there, but then Cake’s ears perked up at the feline started toward the closet.

As the blonde-haired young woman joined her companion at the door, she heard the soft breathing in the otherwise soundless room. Cake inched the doors open the tiniest bit and the person inside took in a sharp wheeze, before falling silent. Wishing she could see in the dark, Fionna watched her best friend peer inside with a sinking feeling that she already knew who it was.

A nod from Cake confirmed it and the girl took a deep breath, gently pushing the closet doors opening and slipping inside. She took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the light before she made out the lithe form curled up in the corner, knees against his chest and cyan eyes staring at her with fear.

“My glob,” Cake whispered and Fionna could hear the heartbreak in her voice. “What in Ooo is going on?”

\--

She had to be happy now.

It was so cold and it felt so good. Everything was as it should be. Cold and wet and covered in ice, just as she liked it. There was no reason for her to be mad, now. She wasn’t going to be mad.

…Was she?

He hadn’t eaten. She always knew when he ate. Sucked on a few ice cubes, but she liked that. She said it was her favorite thing, when he’d eat her ice cakes. She’d bring some with her when she got back, he knew she would. She always did.

When was she coming back?

He’d hidden away in the darkest parts of this strange new home. The light hurt his eyes and made him think of the sun. The sun was bad. It burned his skin when he did things she didn’t like.

The sound of the door to his hide-away alarmed him and he lifted his eyes as a small form entered. It wasn’t her! She always called to him when she came back. Who was this!? People weren’t allowed! She didn’t like people. She was going to get mad!

He gripped at his chest, waiting for the pain. Waiting and expecting, but it never came. It never did, now… and that in itself hurt.

He missed it. The pain was her reminder that she wanted the best for him. That she was trying to protect him from things that hurt him. She only wanted his safety and he only wanted her love.

“Do you know her?” He asked the form. He couldn’t see who it was and he knew he wasn’t supposed to talk, but he began to plead anyways. “Is she with you?”

“Marshall…?” The person – a girl – asked. She moved forward and he could make out her features somewhat.

“You know her, don’t you?” He inquired, desperately. If she knew his name, she had to know her! “Please, tell me where she is!”

“Cake, what do we do?” The girl asked, turning toward the doorway, where he could make out another form – this one a cat, though twice the size of a normal one.

“You stay with him, Fi,” The cat replied. “I’m going to call someone.”

“Who?” ‘Fi’ cried.

“Anyone!” Came the response.

Panic filled his mind and Marshall let out a breath, reaching out and grabbing the girl’s hands. “No!” He begged, staring up at her with desperate eyes. “Please, don’t call anyone! Please! She can’t know! She doesn’t want people here! Please!”

“Who?” The girl questioned, shaking beneath his hold. “Who are you talking about?”

“Ice Queen!” He told her, his gaze intense, even in the dim light. “My wife!”


	6. Chapter 6

-Chapter 6 and junk-

Bubba Gumball was extremely alarmed and confused when Fionna slapped him across the face.

A lot of things had lead up to that point. He’d been in the middle of a meeting when Peppermint Maid had burst in and informed him that Marshall was in the hospital. Then, after the initial panic, she’d gone further and explained that he was in the _mental_ hospital.

That was _so_ much worse.

He didn’t want to leave the meeting, but his people prompted him to go, saying they could handle it for a bit without him. With those words he made his way to the mental institute and ignored the cries of surprise from the patients in the front room as he walked in.

A nurse manning the front station directed him toward a stairway and he practically ran up it, before finding his way to the station up there she had directed him to. Fionna was seated in a waiting chair with cake and the blonde-haired girl stood as he approached.

“Fionna!” He cried in alarm, coming up to her. “What ha-”

 _Smack_! Right across the face. His sugary jaw snapped out of place and after a stunned moment of silence, he reached up and tapped it back into position. Turning his eyes toward her furious face, Gumball opened and closed his mouth again to test its alignment, before asking. “What the glob was that for?”

“ _Where WERE you_!?” Fionna shrieked with such force that the prince actually took a step back. He could never remember seeing her so angry, especially at _him_. “You were supposed to check on him… you were supposed to _be with him_!”

“Fionna-” He attempted, but she cut him off once more.

“Do you have any idea how we found him!?” The girl continued to rant, clenching her fists in front of her chest as she stared at him in desperation. “His place was _soaked_ , PG! Soaked with… with globbing _ice_! He threw ice all over the place! _Glob it_! And he… he kept asking me where _she_ was.” The prince’s body went tense as Fionna grabbed his shoulders and shook him, looking him straight in the eyes. “He was asking for _Ice Queen_ , PG. _Ice. Gobbing. Queen._ ”

The man stood, stunned, even as his best friend let him go and fell back into her waiting chair. After her spoken words, all of his reasons seemed empty and illogical. ‘ _You could have made time_ ,’ his mind told him like a taunting child, pointing fingers and poking fun at the thing that made him the most self-conscious. ‘ _You could have stopped this_.’

“Why weren’t you there?” Fionna’s voice cracked and she leaned against Cake, who put an arm around her.

“The… the fire kingdom,” The Prince whispered, knowing the words sounded pathetic even as they fell from his lips. “They’re on the brink of declaring war… We’ve been trying to come to an agreement…”

The girl looked up at him with such rage that he wondered if they would ever recover from this. “You could have sent someone at least, PG.”

They fell into silence and he stood there numbly for at least five minutes, his head hung low. It appeared as if in one afternoon, he’d lost both his best friend and the man he loved.

Doctor Prince approached them both moments later and gave them both unreadable looks. “We’ve sedated him.” Fionna let out a small gasp, which sounded strained. “We had to. Every time anyone would get close to him, he would panic and start begging ‘her’ not to hurt him.”

“Ice Queen,” Cake mumbled, rubbing her best friend’s back as the blonde haired girl dropped her head into her hands.

“I have an idea of how to help him,” The doctor informed and Gumball lifted his head in hope. “But it’s going to take some serious cooperation on your part, your highness.”

“Anything,” The pink-haired man replied without a moment’s hesitation. “I’ll do anything.”

With a nod, the brown haired man turned. “Follow me, please.”

Awkwardly bidding farewell to Fionna, the prince followed his director toward a back room. He felt his heart drop to his stomach as they approached the door and stepped out of the hallway, into a room with padded walls, floor, and even the ceiling.

In the middle of the space was Marshall and as standard for all patients (until they proved they could do without), he was dressed in a straitjacket. His body was twisted in an awkward position, suggesting that they’d just left him lying after he passed out from the sedation.

“I had this especially brought in,” Doctor Prince explained, removing a small bag from his pocket as they approached the unconscious vampire. “Do you know what this is, your highness?”

Eyeing the bag as he opened it and revealed the powder-like substance inside, Gumball nodded. “Magic dust.”

“Fionna brought it to me,” The doctor explained. “And taught me a particular spell. This spell is very complex, but I really think it will benefit him.” He lowered his head lightly, in order to look up at at the pink-haired young man over the rim of his glasses, very seriously. “I need to know that you are completely willing to do _anything_ it takes to help him.”

Returning the intense stare, Gumball gave a slow, intense nod. “Anything, Doctor.”

With a nod in response, the man took a seat on the floor beside Marshall and the prince followed suit.

“The spell Fionna taught me is one she’s used on Marshall before,” The doctor explained, setting the bag of powder to the side for time being. The prince listened carefully, trying to remember times that Marshall had told him about. “According to her, she got the powder from a witch named Ashley. It is used to enter the memories of a person.”

Pink eyebrows shooting up in surprise, Gumball located the memory of Marshall telling him about the occurrence. Ashley, the vampire’s ex-girlfriend, had tricked Fionna and Cake into entering his mind and removing the memory of their break-up. It still somewhat bothered the king that he couldn’t clearly remember the incident, but according to Fionna it had been over a stuffed animal that had been very dear to the vampire.

“What I’m requesting of you, highness,” Doctor Prince went on to explain before he could ask. “Is that you enter his mind and gather information on what exactly the root of the problems are.” He held up a hand as the pink-haired man started to question him. “I don’t want to do it myself because there are quite a few personal memories I would prefer not to intrude on. I don’t think he would appreciate his mind being picked apart by someone he doesn’t know.”

Slowly, Gumball nodded. The man’s words made sense, but he wasn’t entirely sure that _he_ felt comfortable ‘picking apart’ the vampire’s brain. “What… do I do?”

“I’ll cast the spell on you, so you don’t have to worry about it,” the doctor informed. “I just want you to gather information on what you see, then come back and tell me exactly what happened. I don’t think I can save him unless I know the exact root of the problem, which he is in no state to explain.”

Numbly, the prince agreed to do it. He couldn’t help the feeling in his gut that said he had no right to invade Marshall’s personal moments, but he knew that it was in order to help the Vampire King, in the end.

“Are you ready?” Doctor Prince inquired and Gumball gave a slow nod, while inwardly thinking that he wasn’t. But he didn’t think he would ever be.

What was he going to find there? There were many things that Marshall had told him about, but what about the things he hadn’t? And what about the past five years that he had spent with that crazy woman? What kind of memories were _those_ going to be?

The brown-haired man picked up a handful of dust and threw it in his face. Immediately a cloud of gold blocked his vision and Gumball closed his eyes. His lungs protested as he inhaled the dust and he began to cough, attempting to wave it away from his face.

Eventually he managed to force his eyes open and frowned, looking around. What was this supposed to be? At first it appeared as if he was just in a completely white room, but after a moment of confusion he took notice of the cool feeling and the strange density of the air around him.

Fog. He was in a room full of fog.

Frowning deeply, Gumball held his hands out in front of him at arm’s length and began to move forward, feeling around. Eventually his fingers touched a solid object and after feeling a bit, he realized it was a wall. Deciding to follow it, the pink-haired man began to inch along the walkway, squinting.

His senses perked up when he started to see something amongst the fog, along the wall. Carefully moving toward it, the prince readied himself for anything, in case something went wrong.

To his surprise, however, when he finally reached the object he realized it was just a picture frame. The glass covering the picture inside was covered with fog and was unable to be seen. After peering down the hall, Gumball realized there were several frames along it, one after another, like windows.

Puffing up his cheeks for a moment, the pink-haired young man pulled his long sleeve over his hand and began to wipe at the glass. He was taken aback when the lack of fog revealed not a picture, but instead a moving scene, like he was peering outside into the world of Marshall’s memory.

It was just as foggy inside of the scene as it was in the hallway and he could just barely make out the form of a child amongst rubble. The child was holding some sort of stuffed toy and was saying something to it, but the sound was inaudible, like he was hearing it through a nearly sound-proof wall.

Numbly, Gumball continued along the wall, trying his best to just glance into the picture frames for a moment and move on when he saw that they were from Marshall’s childhood. He didn’t feel right about intruding on the man’s personal memories. (Not that he could make much sense of what was going on, since that dense fog remained in every scene he glanced at.)

At one point he recognized a memory and paused, trying hard to peer into it. He spotted a form that was unmistakably himself, by the looks of the hair. It appeared to be the first time they met, since his form was relatively short and Marshall was laughing.

His own memory of the event was relatively clear. He’d been out at night watching the stars after a long day of royal stuff. All he had wanted was to relax, but then a dark form had loomed over him and he’d turned, completely terrified.

Marshall had started laughing, then. He’d cracked up about how he’d scared the young boy, but his laughs had ceased when Gumball had started sobbing.

The whole situation was just too much for the prince to handle. His day had been long and all he had wanted was to _relax_. But here came this scary form, scaring him and then _laughing_ about it.

The vampire must have felt pretty bad, because he tried to cease the prince’s tears for a moment. After a few failed attempts, the king removed something from a side-bag and handed it to the young boy.

A t-shirt. Gumball still wore it nightly, sleeping in it. It kept him comfortable at night, thinking of the first time someone had given him something, without it being related to him being royalty.

As mysteriously as he’d disappeared, the vampire was gone. But Gumball ran into him after that, accompanied by Fionna.

A few picture frames showed moments with Fionna that Gumball passed up, including the time when his own t-shirt had been stolen and the king confronted him about their rocky relationship. After that he hung around when a certain memory popped up, the foggy scene playing before his eyes in his own mind.

He was taking a break, enjoying some down time in the kingdom. With a book in hand, the prince had lost himself in the twilight on his balcony when the sound of music reached his ears. Curiously, the young man looked up to find Marshall Lee just over the railing, strumming on his bass guitar.

The ancient man began to sing some song about thoughts that would normally disturb the prince, but for some reason at that moment he found the other’s presence… relaxing. Maybe it was the way the moonlight hit Marshall’s face, but he could remember finding the other particularly handsome that night.

After that they’d relaxed and talked about random things, finally easing the uncomfortable air between them.

Picture frame after picture frame showed their times together, but each one, like the last, was full of a dense fog and muted speaking. There were some times that Gumball himself couldn’t really place, and then there were others that really stood out…

They’d been out by a lake, watching some fireflies dance around on the surface. For some reason, the prince had turned his face toward the vampire’s, only to find the other man staring at him. Before he’d had a chance to speak, however, Marshall had leaned in and kissed him.

Gumball’s cheeks lit up in memory. What had possessed the vampire to do so was beyond him, but he had responded by kissing the other back.

This memory, however, was un-seeable. He could make out the fireflies, but the fog was so thick that he couldn’t see anything else. His stomach clenched and he pulled away from the picture frame, frowning to himself.

Why was it so foggy, anyways?

Memory after memory of when they should have been together, but instead the picture frames were full of vast whiteness. It was as if the memories were completely missing.

This went on for almost fifty picture frames before he happened upon one that was clearer then any of the ones before it had been. There was only the smallest bit of fog, which centered around Marshall himself.

The vampire was seated at a dining table made of ice, a bowl full of strawberries in front of him. Across from him sat Ice Queen, cutting slices into what looked like a cake made entirely of ice.

“Please, my new king,” She purred, motioning to the bowl. Gumball was surprised he could make out her words. “Eat.”

Marshall reached out and took a strawberry without any hesitation. The prince assumed that this was when he and the woman had first made the vow, because the vampire looked healthy and clean. He watched from the picture frame as the black-haired man placed the fruit against his lips and moved to sink his fangs in.

Ice Queen’s ring began to glow and the king jerked in surprise, gripping his chest.

“What the math, Ice Queen!?” He snapped, glaring at her.

“Aren’t you going to eat?” She asked with a grin. Gumball’s stomach felt heavy and he pressed his hands against the glass.

Giving an annoyed huff, Marshall went to put the strawberry in his mouth again, only to cry out in surprise once more as the woman activated the vow’s magic. “What is your problem!?”

“Just eat, sweetie,” Ice Queen told him, still acting as if nothing had happened.

As the vampire went to take another bite, Gumball pressed his face against the glass, crying for him not to do it. As with the last two times, Marshall was left gripping his chest in pain.

“Why don’t you eat something?” The woman asked again, smiling.

“No!” the dark-haired man snapped. “No, I’m _not_ going to eat something!”

The prince felt sick as she reached out and literally patted the man on the head. Like some sort of pet in training. “Good boy.”

As quickly as he could, Gumball pulled himself away from the frame and moved on to the next one, wiping its surface clean without really wanting to.

“I’m going out, Mar-mar!” Ice Queen was calling as Marshall sat in what appeared to be their icy kitchen. The vampire appeared about the same as the last frame, so it couldn’t have been much long after.

As soon as he saw the bowl of strawberries on the counter, Gumball knew this was going to end badly. He tried to slam his hands against the glass and yell for Marshall’s attention, but it seemed the other couldn’t hear him.

Ice Queen disappeared out the door and the black-haired man waited a few moments, before he turned and reached for one of the fruits. He paused, waiting, only to relax and lift the fruit to his mouth.

The prince had to turn away as his ex-boyfriend hissed in pain, grasping at his chest.

“I _knew_ you’d fall for it!” She actually _laughed_ , coming back in the front door and over to him. “Bad, bad Mar-mar!”

“You’re globbing bananas, you hag!” Marshall accused from his place on the floor, where he was catching his breath.

Her smile twisted into a look of anger, before it became a cruel grin that made Gumball want to run and hide. “You’re a bad boy,” She informed, reaching down and grabbing hold of the front of his shirt. “A bad, bad boy, Mar-mar. And you need to be punished.”

“The plum I do!” He snapped. The prince tried again to pound his fists into the glass, but despite his protests, Marshall began to shift into his large bat-monster form. His transformation was interrupted suddenly as the woman laughed, the ring on her finger lighting up. As the vampire shrunk back to normal, gripping his chest, she began to drag him toward the front door.

“NO!” Gumball cried in alarm, his eyes wide with horror. He turned his face away and attempted to cover his ears, but it wasn’t quick enough to mask the pained scream as Ice Queen threw Marshall out into the sun.

He brushed past frame after frame. The fog lifted the deeper he went and he couldn’t help but spare glances into the pictures as he went past, wishing each time that he hadn’t. Most of the scenes were like the first ones – Marshall would attempt to get eat and would be shocked. He would attempt to speak up and would be shocked. He would attempt to brush his hair and would be shocked. It was like she was conditioning him to do nothing but sit there and be something she could admire.

Eventually he slowed down to catch his breath in front of a frame and quietly glanced in. In the scene, Marshall was sitting in a chair made of ice, just staring idly ahead. It had to be at least a couple of years after the first, by the state he was in. His messy hair was almost down to his chin and his body was thin, but it wasn’t as bad as it had been when Fionna had saved him.

Ice Queen danced up to him and reached out, brushing her fingers across his face. He immediately flinched at her touch, but she seemed not to notice it, taking a seat in his lap. “Today, I made a beautiful ice sculpture!” The woman declared, a dreamy smile on her face. “It’s of my favorite prince. Oh, I miss you so much, Prince Gumball!”

Almost as if snapped awake by the sound of the pink-haired man’s name, Marshall’s face twisted into anger and he let out a growl, throwing the woman off his lap. “I told you not to talk about him!” He cried, using one hand to swipe at her.

Getting to her feet, Ice Queen let out a shriek. “Ice it, Marshall Lee! This happens every time I mention _him_! When are you going to learn your lesson!?”

The view changed to outside and the prince threw a hand across his mouth as the woman threw Marshall into the sun. As he shrieked painfully, Gumball watched in horror as the woman grabbed her front door and slammed it shut, just leaving him out there.

The dark-haired boy groaned in pain and began to claw at the door for a few moments, his skin boiling and actually smoking. After a couple of seconds he realized that the woman wasn’t going to let him back in and he crawled his way toward a pile of ice nearby, hiding in its shadow.

Upon further inspection, Gumball realized the ice in question was the sculpture that Ice Queen had mentioned of him.

Something wet dripped onto the prince’s hand and he jumped in surprise, looking down. For a few moments he stared in confusion, before another drop hit him, coming from his cheeks. With a numbness brought up by horror, the pink-haired young man reached up and touched his eyes, finding tears soaking them.

Although it was painful, he let his eyes drift back to the vampire, who it seemed didn’t even have the energy to revert to bat form, although he could stay in the shade easier that way. Instead, the young-looking man just laid there, his hand gripping the front of his blue dress shirt and his eyes wide with panic.

Lying and waiting. Waiting to be allowed back into the place he hated most, because that was the only place that was safe.

And Gumball swore that as he watched, he could see something in those usually so happy eyes break. The vampire laid there, hurt and cracking, with no one there to pick up the pieces.

With a heavy heart, the prince pulled himself from the foggy hallway and back into reality. Maybe he couldn’t save Marshall then, but he certainly wasn’t going to give up now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that in Memory of a Memory, Marceline’s memories aren’t displayed like this. However, in my opinion the memory-world is displayed differently depending on the situation.


	7. Chapter 7 and junk

-Chapter 7 and junk-

“I see,” Doctor Prince said in response to the prince’s story, pushing his glasses up his nose as he hummed to himself, before taking down a note with the pen and paper on his desk.

“I don’t… understand?” Fionna offered with a deep frown.

“She’s conditioned him,” The man explained, laying his pen down and lifting his eyes to look at the three of them – Fionna, Cake, and Prince Gumball – as they sat across from him at his workstation. “Used pain to teach him that certain behaviors are wrong. Similar to how you would train a pet, but much more cruel.”

“Is there… any way to undo it?” Cake questioned when no one else did.

When the doctor nodded, there were three sighs of relief. “However,” he said and they instantly tensed once more. “It’s going to take a lot of work and a lot of time. We can’t expect results overnight.” He turned his attention to the prince, his eyes serious once more. “It’s my professional opinion that you should be the one to do most of the work with him, your highness.”

“Me?” Gumball questioned, his stomach twisting. He couldn’t… he had a war to prevent!

“He’s still sleeping now, so you’ve got some time to rest,” The doctor informed, before he bid them farewell and pretty much kicked them out.

Things moved quickly from that point and the prince got lost in all of it. Fionna went home, Peppermint Maid came to retrieve him, and he was swept into another meeting with diplomatic conversations that really felt like too much to the poor young man. It was almost five hours before he finally managed to find his way back to his room.

After feeding Schwabl with numb movements, Gumball finally allowed himself to fall onto his bed and without being able to stop it, he began to cry.

“I can’t do this,” he whimpered, gripping his bed sheets and curling up in them. “How do I prevent a globbing _war_ and spend all of my time with Marshall!?” A sob left his lips and he squeezed his eyes shut. “I can’t do this… I don’t know what to do…”

A sudden knock on his door made him jump out of bed in alarm. Quickly the young man wiped any evidence of tears from his face with his bed sheets, before moving over to the door and opening it. “Yes?”

To his surprise he found Flame Prince standing there, holding Marshall’s Axe guitar. The boy looked extremely uncomfortable as he held it out. “Fionna asked me to give this to you. She thought it would help him remember.”

“Thank you,” Gumball told him with a nod, holding the object for a moment as they awkwardly stood there. Finally he cleared his throat and gave the other a nod, closing the door.

He placed the guitar beside his door and went back to his bed, taking a seat. The time for crying was over… he had to figure out a way to balance both things. His kingdom was counting on him and he had to stand tall and protect them, no matter what it took.

Even if he had no idea what to do.

\--

Marshall didn’t know what to do.

This new place was all white and warm, far too warm. The people that came and went didn’t speak to him; they just held him down and put needles in his arm. He was tied up in some sort of clothing that held his arms still and no matter how much he tried, he couldn’t get his body to react.

He felt so tired and empty, like he couldn’t control himself. His mind kept telling him that it was wrong, it was all _wrong_. That she would be there soon and she would be mad, so _mad_. But no matter how alarmed his mind was, he couldn’t seem to lift himself to his feet, or ask the incoming people what was going on.

On top of that, every time his body started to wake up someone would come by and jam another needle into his arm, putting it back to sleep. Then they’d leave him there, lying on the floor.

Eventually a man in a white coat stepped into the room and approached him, kneeling beside him on the floor. “Hello, Marshall,” He greeted. The best the black-haired man could do was turn his eyes toward him. “My name is Doctor Prince. Do you know where you are?”

He tried to respond, but his thoughts couldn’t seem to reach his mouth.

“That’s alright,” The man told him. “We have you on quite a bit of a sedative. But I assure you, it’s for your own good.” What was a sedative? “You’re in the Candy Kingdom Mental Hospital. You were brought here by your friend Fionna. Do you remember Fionna?” No. “She saved you from Ice Queen.”

The black-haired boy forced a groan. Ice Queen, they knew her! Where was she!? Why wasn’t she here!? She was going to be so mad! He had to get back to her; he had to be there when she got home!

“It’s alright,” The man stated, reaching out and placing a gentle hand on his forehead. “Don’t worry, Marshall. Ice Queen asked us to bring you here.” His eyes turned to look up back at the man. He knew her!? “She had to go out of town for a little while and she wanted us to take care of you.”

He tried to force a numb nod, but only managed a slight movement of his head.

“Oh, and someone else wanted to talk to you, as well,” Doctor Prince informed, an unreadable sound in his voice. “Prince Gumball.”

Alarms went up in Marshall’s head after those words. Gumball, Gumball… Prince Gumball. _Prince Gumball_. He was alert instantly, his previously unmovable body rising up off of the floor and his long teeth coming out as he hissed, “ _Don’t talk about him!_ ”

No, they mustn’t talk about Gumball. They couldn’t. He needed to be protected. He was the reason for Marshall’s every day, every waking moment. He had to protect Gumball. Had to endure the pain and torture, because he wanted him to be safe.

He was only somewhat aware of himself trashing about as hands grabbed at him. He was screaming something, but his voice sounded foreign in his ears. Then he felt the prick of something sharp in his arm and his world slowly became numb once more, before his vision failed and he spiraled into darkness.

\--

The state of his meeting room the next morning was extremely alarming.

He’d expected to find it in array of chaos after a crazy claim of war by the fire kingdom, or something equally as dramatic. But instead, when he emptied the room after a night of restless sleep, he found everyone packing up.

“What’s going on?” Prince Gumball inquired in alarm, wondering what terrible things could have happened to make his entire diplomatic party give up.

But, to his surprise, Peppermint Maid turn to him and explained, “The Fire Kingdom called off the war.”

Pink eyebrows shot up in surprise and the man fell into one of the empty chairs, his body feeling heavy. “They… what?”

“According to them, the prince returned,” She informed, turning back to the stack of papers she had been straightening. “He stated that if they called off their war with you, he would return to captivity.”

The prince’s stomach felt heavy almost instantly. Flame Prince had returned to his kingdom? Why on earth would he do such a thing!?

“He left this note, as well,” The maid informed, walking over and placing an envelope in his lap. The prince picked it up as his trusty companion left, reading the script on the front.

_To: Fionna, Cake, and Prince Gumball._

Numbly, the pink-haired young man sought out his dearest friend to tell her the grim news.

\--

Cake had made an elaborate pancake breakfast, but Fionna wasn’t particularly interested in eating. She was still rather sore at Prince Gumball for neglecting Marshall, but she knew she couldn’t stay mad for much longer. Still, she felt the need to stew in it for a little more before finally confronting him and eventually visiting the vampire. (Doctor Prince had instructed her to stay away for the time being, until everything was figured out.)

Imagine her surprise, however, when a knock came to the front door and Beemo opened to reveal the very prince she was peeved at. “Fionna does not wish to speak to you,” Beemo informed, moving to slam the door back in his face.

“Wait!” The blonde-haired girl called, coming down the latter in one quick leap. She moved over to the door and eyed the man up and down with puffed up cheeks. “What the plum do you want?”

“I need to talk to you,” He stated and the sound of his voice showed her that it wasn’t anything she should protest against.

She motioned him inside and together they climbed up to the main living room.

Gumball motioned Cake over and as they sat together on the floor, he removed a piece of paper from the front inside pocket of his jacket. “This is very hard to say,” He informed, his voice nearly breaking as he spoke. “But… Flame Prince returned back to his kingdom.”

“What!?” Fionna gasped, her eyes going wide with horror. “Why!?”

He’d never wanted to return. His father had imprisoned him all those years ago, claiming his son was ‘evil’ simply because he was going through a, as Cake stated, ‘dramatic teenager faze’. She and Cake had rescued him after hearing about it from Flamba, a flambit that they occasionally spoke to.

“I don’t know,” Gumball informed, holding up the letter. “But he left this for us to read.”

Falling numbly onto the floor, Fionna let her eyes drift to her lap as Cake took the envelope and opened it up. The cat cleared her throat and began to read, her voice sounding distant. “Dear Cake, since I’m certain you’re the one reading this.” She snorted. “Please read this aloud to Fionna and Gumball. Thank you.” Looking from the blonde to the pink-haired man, she gave a small nod, and then continued. “To my dear Fionna; Please understand that my return to my kingdom is not a negative reflection on you. In fact, I only did this because I want your happiness.

“I heard you, Prince Gumball, in your room last night. You were crying and I’m sorry if I intruded on your personal time, but I overheard some of the things that you said. You mentioned that my father was on the verge of declaring war on your people and that because of this, you weren’t sure you could balance your royal duties and time with your loved one.

“I know how much the Vampire King means to you, Fionna.” She felt her cheeks flush. He really did know her well. “And I want your happiness, above all else. The only way for him to heal is for the prince to help him and in order for that to happen, this war needs to be stopped. So I am making a deal with my father; if he calls off his threat, then I will remain captive once more.

“Please don’t fear for me, dearest. I promise that things will work themselves out and that I will see you again, soon.” Cake lowered the paper into her lap and locked eyes with Fionna. “That’s it.”

The girl gripped the front of her shirt, completely moved by the letter and by her boyfriend’s sacrifice. Had he really done that for Marshall… for her? Just to see her happy?

“Boy,” Cake addressed Gumball, using her ‘don’t mess with me’, sassy voice. “You best get your skinny buns over to that hospital and start putting that vampire back together! I want my baby girl’s boyfriend back!”

Clearing her throat, Fionna caught the prince’s eyes. “Please help him,” She requested, her voice barely above a whisper. “Not just for FP, either. PG… you’re the only one who can help him now.” Fionna’s blue eyes were intense as she grabbed hold of his shoulders. “Please don’t give up on him, dude. No matter what happens.”

The prince gave what appeared to be a numb nod. It was the best answer she was going to get out of him.

\--

“I don’t understand what went wrong,” He said as he peered in through the tiny window inside of the large metal door. “He was fine before, when he was in the hospital. Right after we got him away from her. But after he went home he seems like he just… lost it.”

Doctor Prince looked at Gumball with his normal serious, unreadable expression. “In my personal observation,” He stated, reaching up to push his glasses up his nose. “When he was in our care the first time, you made sure that he wasn’t alone for more than a few moments at a time.” The Pink haired boy’s heart began to beat faster. “And so the suddenness of his solitude made him relapse into not just a dark state, but a darker one then he’d been in before.”

Turning, Gumball peered into through the door, his heart in his throat. He’d done this… he was the one who insisted that Marshall was well enough to be on his own despite the doctor’s protests. He hadn’t even thought about weaning him down to isolation slowly, so it wouldn’t shock his system.

It was dark in the room – according to the brown-haired M.D., whenever they attempted to turn on a light, the once proud Vampire King would cower and shriek in pain – and he could barely make out a form leaning up against the wall, head tilted to the side, like he was off in a daydream.

“We had to lower his sedatives,” Doctor Prince informed after giving the royal young man a moment to think. “He was barely able to blink on his own, before. Now he is able to respond, but he’s not as panicked as he was prior to the medications.” The man reached out and plucked a chart off of the wall, glancing it over. “We’ve been telling him that Ice Queen told us to bring him here.”

Gumball frowned. “Is it wise to lie to him?”

“Usually, no, I would agree that it’s not,” The man informed as he flicked through a few of the pages. The prince wasn’t sure what he was looking for. Maybe he was just doing it to keep his hands occupied. “But this is a very strange case.”

“How so?” The pink-haired man questioned, glancing back at Marshall’s still form for a few moments, before he returned his gaze to the doctor.

Doctor Prince placed the chart down and held his eyes once more, over the top of his glasses. “Every time someone mentions your name, he gains some sort of otherworldly strength and attacks them.”

Gumball’s pink eyebrows shot up in surprise. “W-what?”

“It’s quite a reaction to witness, indeed,” The man informed, still staring intensely. “He declares that you are not to be spoken of, and then he attacks. You said that in his memory, he did the same thing when she mentioned you. He’s got some sort of protective streak embedded in his mind.”

Although he didn’t want to talk about it, the prince knew that being honest would only benefit Marshall in the end. And so, swallowing the lump in his throat, he told the man, “The whole reason he did this vow with Ice Queen was because of me.” Doctor Prince’s expression was curious and so Gumball continued to explain, his voice getting softer as he spoke. “He made a deal with her. They agreed that if he married her, she would move away from Ooo… away from me.”

The brown-haired man’s eyebrows shot up in surprise at it was the first time the prince could remember seeing any kind of expression on his face. “I see,” He hummed after a moment, reaching up to push his glasses up his nose once again. “That makes things a lot clearer.”

His stomach still tight with guilt, the royal young man whispered a pained, “How so?”

“His basic instinct,” Doctor Prince explained, grabbing the chair once more and removing a pen from his top pocket to write something down on the third or so page. “I had assumed that his main goal was to make Ice Queen happy, but after your admission, it’s come to my attention that it’s actually quite different. Yes, he wanted to keep Ice Queen happy, but it seems that was only to lessen the pain. His main thoughts were to protect you, which was why you saw him react when she mentioned you in his memory.” The pink-haired man frowned, not quite understanding. It seemed the doctor caught on because he put the pen away and tried to say it in simpler terms. “Even when Ice Queen’s abuse caused his mind to break down, one basic instinct remained. Protecting you.”

Gumball’s heart swelled with different emotions all at once. Guilt, because he’d caused this entire mess; Pain, because he had seen what Marshall had gone through to cause him to lose his mind; Confusion, because he still could barely make sense of the doctor’s explanation; And love, because despite all of the torture he’d gone through… Marshall had kept thinking of him.

“This is good,” Doctor Prince declared, his voice rising in what seemed to be excitement. “This is good!” The brunette turned to the royal young man, almost seeming to smile, as if he’d made some sort of breakthrough. “I had assumed before that you could help us to heal him, but now I _know_ that’s the case. Once Mr. Abadeer realizes that you are no longer in danger, it will be easier to ease him out of the dark place that Ice Queen’s abuse put him in. It’s going to take time, but there is hope!”

The prince continued to listen with half a mind. He’d lost track as soon as the man had informed him that there was _hope_. Hope? They could save him? He couldn’t help the smile that crossed his face and he tried to push back the relieved tears that stung at his eyes.

He paid little attention as the doctor instructed him on what to do in the room, too anxious to get inside to focus on the man’s words. As soon as the door opened he stepped in and waited as it closed behind him.

Marshall’s cyan eyes lifted to him. They were the only thing on the young-looking man that was catching the light, giving them an eerie sort of glow. “Did she send you?” He asked, quietly.

Squinting into the dark, Gumball inched forward until his eyes adjusted. He felt a twinge of sadness as he realized the king was strapped up in a straitjacket, his body twisted at an awkward angle. His long hair was still tamed, but hung down over most of his face and across his shoulders – at least midway down his back now, longer than the prince could ever remember seeing it.

Remembering what Doctor Prince had said, the pink-haired young man came close enough that he could touch the black-haired boy, but didn’t reach for him. “Yes,” he lied as he took a seat across from the other. “She sent me.”

To his surprise, Marshall squinted into the dark and leaned forward, trying to take in his appearance. “You…” He breathed and his body left the ground, hovering off of the floor. He twisted gawkily in the air as he hovered over the younger man, taking in his appearance. Finally he stopped, on the other side of Gumball, upside down and glancing up at him with a cranked neck and an arched back. “I know you,” The vampire declared.

The prince sat, taken aback for a moment, before he nodded. “You do.”

“Who are you?” Marshall inquired, tilting his head to the side, but remaining up in the air. The pink-haired royal figured it was an improvement, because according to Doctor Prince, the dark-haired young man had barely moved from his spot on the floor.

“My name is Prince Bubba Gumball,” The pink-haired man said slowly, giving the Vampire King time to process his words.

Pale blue lips parted slightly as the other man took him in with cyan eyes for a few moments. Then with an extreme lack of grace, Marshall dropped to the floor with a loud _thud_. The young-looking vampire recovered quickly, however, struggling to get to his knees and moving forward until his face was inches from the prince’s. “You-!”

“Me,” Gumball replied after a moment, shell-shocked as Marshall gaped at him openly.

“You’re… you’re safe,” The vampire whispered, his tense shoulders relaxing. “You’re safe?”

“I’m safe,” The prince confirmed with a nod, before he let a smile cross his features. “You kept me safe, Marshall.”

Eyes distant and staring off to the side, the king let his head tilt like one side of it was heavier than the other. “Safe…” he mumbled. Gumball jumped in alarm as the taller boy let his body drop in a sudden heap, his head in the pink-haired man’s lap. “What about… her?” He asked, after a few moments.

Trying to remember exactly what Doctor Prince had said about Ice Queen, the royal frowned in frustration. Darn it, of all the globbing times not to listen… he swallowed down his anxiety and let himself go with what his heart said to say. “She’s gone, Marshall.”

“Gone?” He inquired, lifting his head to look up at the pink-haired young man.

“Completely gone,” Gumball informed, slowly reaching out to place a hand on top of the other’s head. “She was banished.” As the older man stared up at him in confusion, he continued to explain, without really knowing what to say. “The vow was broken and you were set free.”

“I’m… free?” Marshall repeated with an unreadable emotion in his voice. He lowered his eyes to the floor, before laying his head back down into Gumball’s lap. “I saved Bubba and… I’m free…”

They fell into silence again and after it had stretched on for what felt like forever, the prince finally let himself speak up. “Are you alright, Mar-?”

“Shhh,” The other cut him off. “I’m happy.”

The pink-haired man’s heart swelled with joy at those words and he couldn’t push away the tears that stung at his violet eyes. Slowly he let his hand touch the other’s hair once more and he began to stroke it with soft, gentle movements.

Could it really have been this easy? Of course, he knew that the other was nowhere near healed, but was it really going to go this well? Could he have really helped the other out of a dark moment and back into a happiness he hadn’t felt in years, with just a few simple words?

From the soft, content smile on Marshall’s face, he knew that he had.


	8. Epilogue and junk

-Epilogue and junk-

The silver ring passed around his fingers like a dancing coin, thin and light but durable. It was a simple band, not really something he would wear but it had feeling behind it and that was what mattered.

Still, the sight of the object reminded him of the past, though it wasn’t all that similar to the one in question. For a few moments he found himself staring at it, his brain drifting off to a darker time.

Then a hand reached up and took hold of the silky red tie that was around his neck, straightening it. “Don’t think about it,” A voice said and he looked up into the face of Bubba Gumball, smiling softly. “This is a big day.”

Marshall gave a small nod and let himself grin. It _was_ a big day, and there was no point in getting worked up about the whole thing.

It had been a year since he had been rescued from Ice Queen’s hold and things had gotten much better. Although Marshall still had trouble remembering a few things about his life, things slowly came back. At first, he couldn’t even remember Fionna, but now he couldn’t imagine life without her.

“Are you ready?” Gumball inquired as he straightened his own tie and finished fixing his bubblegum hair in the mirror.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Marshall replied, earning him a smile from his partner.

He felt his stomach flutter a bit when the pink-haired man leaned in and kissed him with one quick, encouraging smooch, before he left the room. Sparing one last glance at himself – primed and pressed, thanks to Bubba’s touches – the black-haired vampire slipped out of the room as well, floating toward the entrance way of the alter.

There were a line of various people ahead of him, most of which he only knew because of Fionna. Still, it was nice to see them there and he gave them all a devious grin. A couple of them laughed and smiled, while some just waved and turned back toward the doorway.

Inside the room, the music began and he straightened his shoulders, letting out a slow breath. ‘Here we go’, he told himself, spotting Fionna and giving a soft smile – the kind he reserved for her and only her.

The doors opened and one by one they started down the walkway, covered in red carpet and silky decorations. The whole thing was a bit ridiculous to him, but Gumball had gone crazy with his planning and decorating, so he’d just let the man work.

The crowd was all smiles, a few of them crying loudly. Most of the attendants were Fionna and Gumball’s friends and there were a few people there he didn’t know at all, but it didn’t really bother him. So long as everyone else was having a good time, he would too.

As he reached the alter, the pink-haired prince gave him one of those gentle, loving smiles that he only gave when he remembered the past and thanked glob that things had turned out well. The kind of smile that spoke in volume that he loved Marshall Lee and that he always would.

Returning this wonderful smile with a secret one of his own, the Vampire King stepped to the side and turned to look down the walkway as the music switched to a quicker, more up-beat tune.

Although she hated dresses, Fionna looked beautiful in her white gown. She seemed uncomfortable, but an encouraging smile from Cake eased her fears as they walked down the aisle, arm in arm. In her hand she had a bouquet of miniature scaled swords, which was all too fitting, although it had confused the groom’s parents.

A bundle of nerves stood in front of Gumball as Flame Prince played with the cuffs of his sleeves. His eyes were on Fionna and in turn her eyes were on him, a smile on her face that spoke in volumes of her happiness.

She joined her groom at the alter and Gumball cleared his throat as everyone sat down. He lifted up the book of Grob that he held in his hands and began to speak, unable to wipe the proud smile from his face.

Marshall paid attention to every word, watching Fionna’s happy face from his place behind Flame. When the pink-haired prince called for the rings, he stepped up from behind the aflame young man, holding out the silver objects with a grin.

“Thanks,” Fionna said, her cheeks pink as she joined eyes with her groom once more.

The crowd burst into cheers as they finished the ceremony with a soft kiss. Even Flame’s father had a smile on his burning face from inside of a protective shield that surrounded him.

More music played and the couple ran out as people clapped. As the group began to flood out after them, Marshall hung back with the prince as he watched the scene with a blissful expression.

“Never thought I’d see the day when that kid walked down the aisle,” The vampire commented, putting an arm on the pink-haired man’s shoulder and leaning heavily on him. He lifted his feet from the ground and up behind him until they were almost over his head, idly hanging beside his companion.

“I know, right?” Gumball laughed, turning to look at him. “But she’s happy.”

Marshall gave a nod, before he turned and grinned at the other. “Ready to par-tay?”

The prince laughed and took the king’s hand, heading after the departed crowd.

\--

Bubba Gumball laughed as Fionna grabbed hold of her shy newly-wed husband and pulled him onto the dance floor. They began to scoot around awkwardly, laughing and having fun. Cake was shuffling with Mo-Chro and various other people were gathering to join in.

Marshall’s song was as distasteful as ever – at least in his opinion – but it seemed everyone was enjoying it. The prince himself was just happy to see his boyfriend doing something so… normal.

Not that the other hadn’t been acting like himself again. The King was so like his old self that sometimes the prince wondered if he’d ever disappeared at all, but then those moments would come where Marshall would pause or flinch at something that seemed so harmless, and Gumball would be reminded once more of the traumatic ordeal that the other man had gone through.

And the nightmares… oh, the nightmares.

It had come to a point where, during his treatment at the Mental Hospital, Marshall hadn’t been able to sleep without the use of some sort of sleep aid. And even then, he would wake up during the night in a fit of fear, alarmed and confused. At first, the prince had felt a little awkward when Doctor Prince had asked him to stay in the room with the dark-haired king, but sure enough the man’s call had led to the first restful night the other had in weeks.

From there, the vampire moving in to his place wasn’t much of a stretch. He’d given Marshall his own room – both to keep his stuff in and for appearance – but they both knew it wasn’t going to be used much. His own room was given upgrades, which included dark curtains for the windows and the doors, as well as a change in decoration because Marshall refused to sleep in ‘such a girly room’.

The staff seemed happy. They had to put up with various pranks and scares, but all in all, they enjoyed the company of the ancient man.

Something caught the prince’s attention and he turned to see Flame taking a seat beside him, looking a bit uncomfortable. But if the groom was sitting there, it meant he wanted to talk, which Gumball was happy to do. After all, it was the man’s big day, so he wasn’t about to tell him to buzz off.

“She’s very happy that he’s here,” The aflame prince stated, nodding toward the stage, where Marshall had brought Fionna up to dance as he sang his distasteful song. “And… I am too.”

“It took a lot of time,” Gumball hummed, smiling as he watched the two friends ham it up in the spotlight. “But he made it. And I know he’s glad to be here, too.”

“I wanted to thank you,” The red-skinned young man continued and the candy prince turned his attention to him in surprise. “For getting me out of the fire kingdom.”

Ah, yes. A year ago, the fire prince had agreed to go back home to stop a war, so that Gumball would have the time to focus on Marshall’s recovery. After the dark-haired young man had made a bit of progress, he’d turned his attention back to the flame kingdom and marched in, demanding the prince be released once more.

The fire king had agreed on one condition – if he released the prince, Gumball had to make sure he didn’t destroy anything. Apparently the man didn’t understand that his destructive, so-called ‘evil’ son was already much tamer thanks to the five years he had spent dating Fionna. The guy was entirely delusional, but the pink-haired royal had agreed none the less.

Flame’s father had been delighted upon hearing the news of his son’s engagement and had even offered to host the party, but they’d turned down the offer. No one wanted to catch fire, after all.

“Of course,” He told the flame royal with a smile, reaching over to awkwardly pat his shoulder. Although they were on closer terms, he wouldn’t call them ‘friends’. “And I can’t thank you enough for what you did for Marshall. Or rather, for Fionna.”

Flame Prince gave a small nod, smiling at his new wife as Marshall lifted her, laughing, off the ground and began to float toward the ceiling. “I would do anything to see her smile.”

Letting his own eyes drift once more back to the laughing Vampire that now had his feet on the ceiling, carrying the blushing bride upside-down, Gumball let a smile cross over his face once more. “I understand that one. Trust me.”

\--

The pink-haired prince let out a relieved breath as he fell back onto his bed, the plush surface cushioning his fall. He laughed for a moment, before rolling around on the surface.

Marshall couldn’t help but grin, knowing that he was the only one that Bubba would act in such a way around. Completely relaxed and unafraid of appearing anything less than royal. Even Fionna, in all her years of knowing him, had never seen the Prince act so carefree (save for those few days he spent as a thirteen year old).

“That was quite a night,” The Vampire commented as his companion began to loosen his tie.

“Quite a night, indeed!” The prince laughed, sitting up and sending a warm smile his companion’s way. “But a good night. A great night!”

Lifting his feet up, Marshall let his body float over to the pink-haired man’s with a grin. “Mmm, but it’s not over yet.”

Gumball’s pink face flushed red as the vampire hovered over him, only to change to a look of confused surprise as the dark-haired man landed in a kneeling position in front of him. “Marshall, what the glob?”

“I tried like math to write some fancy, big speech here,” The dark-haired boy started as he took the prince’s hand in his own. “But we both know I’m not really the speech-writing type.” The prince rolled his purple eyes and nodded. “And I tried to write it into a song but that just seemed a little too cheesy.” Another eye roll. “So instead, I’m just going to ask.”

The prince’s purple eyes lit up in excitement and anticipation and Marshall felt his heart fill his throat with nerves. He couldn’t do it. There was just no way.

“I’m hungry,” The Vampire stated, grinning. “Can you get me a snack?”

“ _Marshall Lee_!” Gumball cried in disappointment, grabbing hold of the black-haired young man’s shoulders and pulling him off his knees. They both fell onto the bed and his frustrated groan gave way to an onslaught of giggles as the vampire began to tickle his sides. “You butt! No, I won’t get you a snack!”

His smile growing wider, Marshall reached into his pocket. Yes, this was much more like it. Much easier, much kinder… so much more like them. “Oh,” He pretended to be disappointed, before pulling the object from his pocket and holding it out for the other to see. “Then how about you marry me, instead?”

The prince’s laughing face froze into one of surprise and shock as he stared at the simple purple band. Nothing flashy, but still one of the man’s favorite colors, even if it wasn’t your ‘typical’ wedding ring. Still, it seemed the other was impressed because sugary tears began to well up in his eyes as he alternated looking between the Vampire and the object.

“Are you… serious?” Gumball asked and the sound of caution in his voice almost made Marshall frown.

“Of course I’m serious, Bubba!” The king laughed, still crouched over his pink-haired companion.

Each second that ticked away made his heart ache more. Was the other going to say no? Was it because he had been married in the past? Was he tainted? Did Gumball hate that he’d been touched by Ice Queen? Was-

“Shhh,” The candy prince whispered, reaching up to touch the young-looking vampire’s face. He knew… of course he did. He always knew when thoughts of those five torturous years were starting to surface. “Of course I’ll marry you, Marshall.”

Before he could respond, Gumball pulled him down into a gentle kiss and the dark-haired man melted into it, letting his body flop onto the other’s, earning him a groaning laugh. “What, am I heavy?” He teased, wiggling around as the other man giggled beneath him. “You want me off you? _Never_!”

“Marshall!” The other protested, trying to push him off, hiccupping from the force of his laughter.

“I claim this gum in the name of Abadeer~!” The King cried before he was finally forced off, landing at the other’s side with a loud snicker. “Awww, I was dethroned!”

“You’re impossible!” The candy royal declared, but he smiled none the less and reached out to brush some of the other’s black hair from his face. “But I love it.”

“And I,” Marshall retorted as he leaned into to kiss the other’s nose. “Love you. Now off to bed with you!”

And with that said, the couple prepared for bed, sharing one last kiss before drifting off into dreams of their future together.


End file.
